FIFTY24SF Gallery Presents “Strange Fruit” New Works by The Date Farmers

For Immediate Release
August 26, 2009

FIFTY24SF Gallery Presents “Strange Fruit” New Works by The Date Farmers


Fifty24SF is proud to host “Strange Fruit”- a solo exhibition by The Date Farmers.

Returning to Fifty24SF Gallery, the Date Farmers is a collaborative work between artists Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma. Originally from Indios, California, the two attribute their paintings, collages, and three-dimensional pieces to inspiration from Mexican-American traditional values and contemporary west coast culture. The artists look to graffiti, Mexican street murals, traditional revolutionary posters, sign painting, prison art and tattoos for their influence.

The Date Farmers prefer to use scavenged materials, often found near their desert homes in southern California and nearby Mexico. “Using stuff that was thrown away is Mexican ingenuity. People’s idea of art is that it’s really expensive and [made of] nice materials, but found objects are so abundant, they’re much easier and freeing for us.”

Exploring a range of emotions, from humorous to disturbing, “Strange Fruit” is influenced by “the everyday stories, social politics and myths that take place and unfold around us on a daily.” The show represents the wide spectrum from which they draw inspiration, and the duo uses materials that allow them to be resourceful, yet abundant with character.

The Date Farmers have had International gallery exhibitions in Tokyo, London and Stockholm. They appeared at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado for the Manifest Hope Gallery.

“Strange Fruit” features new works on display at FIFTY24SF Gallery from September 3 – September 24, 2009.

www.thedatefarmers.com

SOURCE: Gabriella A. Davi-Khorasanee/Upper Playground

T. Magic presents HOPE EMBLEM (Platinum Edition 09)

A message from Sir t. Magic:

Peace to all T.Magicworld citizens,

It’s that time of the month again and I ain’t talking ovulation lol. Tonight sees a special release of the T.Magic Hope Emblem (Platinum Ed). This fresh new release features the iconic T.Magic emblem (seen as a badge of honour) printed with an iridescent platinum finishing. This has got to be the most visually striking piece of clothing I’ve released to date!

This series will feature a tee and sweater.

Limited to 50 pieces of each… in the entire galaxy available here!

Good Luck!

T.Magic

National Portrait Gallery Exhibits Portrait of Ted Kennedy Painted by Andy Warhol

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery installed a portrait of Sen. Edward Kennedy by Andy Warhol. It went on view when the museum opened to the public at 11:30 a.m. in a first-floor gallery that is designated for remembrance of recently deceased individuals represented in the gallery’s collection. Warhol’s silkscreened portrait of Kennedy was created in 1980 to raise funds for Kennedy’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. A special feature of the print is Warhol’s use of the colors of the American flag and diamond dust. The Portrait Gallery acquired the portrait in 2000.

Elected to the United States Senate in 1962, Edward Kennedy owed his early success to his close identification with his elder brothers, President John F. Kennedy, whose Senate term he completed, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Praising their commitment to public service, he acknowledged, "I'm very proud of that association."

Kennedy built on this legacy when he sought the presidency in 1980. Andy Warhol's silkscreened portrait, created as a campaign fund-raiser, plays off the colors of the American flag and suggests the glamour of politics by enhancing the candidate's features with thin red and blue lines and diamond dust. Warhol’s portrait of Kennedy is now on display at the National Portrait Gallery, on the museum’s first floor.

Although Kennedy lost the 1980 Democratic nomination to Jimmy Carter, whom Warhol had portrayed four years earlier, the long-serving senator became an influential leader in his party.

Kennedy was elected to a full six-year term in 1964 and was reelected seven more times. His reputation was tarnished by the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, which resulted in the death of automobile passenger Mary Jo Kopechne; Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. Though it did not affect his standing in the Senate, the incident significantly damaged his popularity nationally, and Kennedy never appeared on his party's presidential ticket.

Known for his oratorical skills, Kennedy's 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 Democratic National Convention rallying cry for American liberalism were among his best-known speeches. He became known as "The Lion of the Senate" through his long tenure and influence. More than 300 bills that Kennedy and his staff wrote were enacted into law. He was known for working with Republicans and finding compromises among senators with disparate views. Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including laws addressing immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care, civil rights, mental health benefits, children's health insurance, education and volunteering. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. At the time of his death, he was continuing to work on universal health care legislation, which is often described as his "life's work".

In May 2008, Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor which limited his appearances in the Senate. He died on August 25, 2009, at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

SOURCE: AKN

ZEVS and his anti-logo art

If you are a street artist and your last targets have included gigantic billboards in town centres, it is likely you will soon be looking for more audacious locations to strike again. Indeed, it is hardly surprising that French graffiti artist ZEVS (pronounced Zeus), ended up getting into serious trouble. The night before his first solo show at the Statements Art Gallery in Hong Kong, he decided to make his own, special announcement: he painted a Chanel logo on an Armani boutique. The sign bore his trademark ‘liquidation’ effect that gives it a melting appearance, and acted as foreplay to the show ‘Liquidated Logos’ opening the next day.

For the rest of the article, click HERE.

Photo of the Day: KAWS x Michael Jackson for INTERVIEW

Source: KAWS

THE ARTIST READING RAINBOW

e-flux is pleased to announce the opening of its reading room in New York. The reading room is a rapidly growing collection of several thousand books on contemporary art exhibitions open to the public at 41 Essex Street. The books have been donated by numerous art institutions and individuals from all parts of the world and reflect some of the more interesting developments in art of the past decade. e-flux reading room is open for research and study from Tuesday through Saturday, 12-6 pm.

Come visit!

Contributing institutions include:
A Prior, Aeroplastics contemporary, Agentur fur Fotografie und Fotoprojekte, alphadelta gallery, aMAZElab, Americas Society, Annika Larsson, Apex Art Curatorial Program, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Kunstvereine (ADKV), Arch+ Foundation / Volume, Archis, Art & Industry Biennial Trust, Art en Marge, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Art Goes Heiligendamm, Art in General, Art Lies - A Contemporary Art Quarterly, Art Press (Art Resources Transfer INC), Artangel, ArtBOX, artconnexion, Artes Mundi, Artfairs inc, artforum (Bookforum), Art-ist 5, artspace witzenhausen gallery, Artspeak, Asperger Autorenwerkstatt e.V., Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Athens Biennial, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, B&M Verlag, BAK - basis voor actuele kunst, BAM/PFA, b-books, Bettinna Pousttchi, BIDA - Bienial Internacional del Deporte en el Arte, Bidoun: Arts and Culture from the Middle East, Black Dog publishing, Blanton Museum of Art, Boijmans Museum, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonniers Konsthall, Boo kworks, Bristol School of Art Media and Design, bruno dorn verlag, Buchmann Galerie Berlin, Bury Art Gallery, CAB, Caja de Burgos Art Centre, Cabinet, CCA Wattis, Center for Contemporary Non-objective Art, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Centre Culturel Suisse Paris, Centre d'Art Nicolas de Stael, Centre d'Art Santa Monica Generalitat de Catalunya, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Centro Cultural Tijuana, Centro de Arte Y Naturaleza (CDAN), Chiang Mai University Art Museum, Christian Brandstatter Verlag, Wien, Conner Contemporary Art, Contact (Toronto Photography Festival), Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Crawford Gallery, Crosswords, DaimlerChrysler Contemporary, Deutsche Guggenheim, Dia Center for the Arts, Didier Devillez Editeur, Dienst voor Cultuur, E31 Gallery, Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, e-flux, EIE (Primer Encuentro Internacional De Espacios De Arte Independiente 2005), Ellen Blumenstein, Fabbrica del Vapore, Festival der Regionen, Fillip, Fine Arts Unternehmen, Flatform, Fleunt-Collaborative, Flintridge Foundation, Florence Lynch Gallery, Fondacio "Sa Nostra", Caixa de Balears, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, FormContent, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Framis International Office, Francesca Minimi, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frieze, GAK, Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, Galerie im Taxispalais - Galerie des Landes Tirol, Galerija "Meno Parkas", Kaunas, Lithuania, Galerija Skuc, Galleri Image, Galleria Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Bergamo (GAMeC), Galleria Civica di Modena, Gallery at REDCAT, Gasworks Gallery, Goteborgs Konsthall, Gowett-Brewster Art Gallery, Green Cardamom, Gronlands Kulturhus, Hadley & Maxwell, Halle für Kunst e.V., Harriet Godwin, Hellenic Culture Organisation, Herzliya Biennial of Contemporary Art, High Desert Test Sites, Hogeschool Gent, HomeShop, I Sotterranei delle Agostiniane, Monte Carasso, IM Projects, Independent Curators International (iCI), Index A / Stockholm, InSite/Installation Gallery, Institute National d'Histoire de l'Art , Paris, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) London, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Irwin, j & k world, Jan Van Eyck Academie, jrg|ringier, Julie Joyce & Sandra Firmin, k3 project space, Kasseler Kunstverein, Katuaq / Kirsten Justesen, Krannert Art Museum, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Kunsthaus Dresden, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Kunstlerhaus Buchsenhausen, Kunstlerhaus Stuttgart, Kunstmuseet Brundlund Slot, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Kunstverein Gottingen, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Kvindemuseet i Danmark, KW, Berlin, La Maison Rouge, Laura Palmer Foundation, Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, Ashkal Alwan, Lehman College Art Gallery, Lightworks Magazine, Lismore Castle Arts, Livraison - Revue d'Art Contemporain / Contemporary Arts Journal, Locus Athens, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Matt's Gallery, London, MDD - Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, MER. Paper Kunsthalle, Miami Design District, Middelheim Museum, Mobile Academy, MoBY, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, mono.kultur, Montenmedio Arte Contemporaneo / NMAC, Moskow Biennale 02, MOUSSE, Mucsarnok / Kunsthalle, Budapest, MUSAC Museu de Arte Contemporeáneo de Castilla y Léon, MUSEION, Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Museum in Progress, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Muzej savremene umetnosti, Beograd, Nada, nassauischer kunstverein e.V., National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), National Museum of Contemporary Art Budapest (Mucsarnok), National Sculpture Factory, Ireland, Netwerk/centrum for heedendaagse kunst, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V., Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nuno Cera, Nuno Ferreira de Carvahlo, O.K. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Objectif Projects, Obra Social Caja Madrid, Office for Contemporary Art, Norway, Old Mill Books, OneStar Press, Or gallery, Vancouver, Parasol Unit, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Parker's Box, Parkett, PEAR, Picnic Magazine, Polonca Lovsin, Portikus, Printed Project, Project Art Center, Essex/ Project Press, Project Gentili, PS1, Public Art Lab /Mobile Studios, Public Art Lower Austria, Raphael Grisey, Regine Basha, Rekalde, Renee Ridgway, RSA Arts & Ecology, Salzburger Kunstverein, SCI-Arc Gallery, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Sculpture Center, NY, Secession, Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession, Serpentine Gallery, Sharjah International Biennial, Site Gallery & Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum, SITE Santa Fe, Spike - Art Quarterly, Sportmagzin Verlag GmbH, Star Ship, Statens Museum for Kunst, Sternberg Press, Stroom Den Haag, Studies of Anedafology, Studio 1, Summit, Susanne Kriemann, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taipei Biennial and Taiwan Pavilion), Teachers College of Technology, Rachel & Israel Pollak Gallery, Textem Verlag, The Armory Show, The Center for Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv, The Drawing Center, The Free Academy, The Moore Space, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania, The Power Plant - Contemporary Art Gallery Harbourfront centre, The press of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, The Queens Museum of Art, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics - The New School, , The Women's Art Library - Make, Goldsmiths University London, Thelma Mathias, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21), Topographis Press, TORCH Gallery, tranzit, initiative for contemporary art, Tyler Coburn, Umetnostna Galerija Maribor (Maribor Art Gallery), UP, Veenman Publishers, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg, Via Farini, Villa Arson, Nice, Villa Manin: Centro d'Arte Contemporanea, Vydal KANT, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Witte de With, Wyspa Progress Foundation.

Should you wish to contribute to this collection, please send your publications to:
e-flux reading room
41 Essex Street
New York, NY 10002
USA

www.e-flux.com

2 Artists x 1 Painting = UBX 12 x 12 @ MCA

UBS 12 x 12 New Artists/New Work
Robert Davis / Michael Langlois
September 5-27, 2009

The Chicago artist duo, Robert Davis/Michael Langlois, have an unusual approach to painting: they share equal roles in developing ideas, choosing subjects, and creating the works. Robert Davis/ Michael Langlois debut a new series of paintings, Into the Void: the Ballad of The Martyr as Told by Ingres.

Three photo-realistic paintings and a wall painting feature subjects in a loose narrative that are united by the theme of martyrdom. The Into the Void subjects include the French Neoclassical painter, Jean Auguste Dominque Ingres; a young Palestinian-American girl; a lush jungle landscape replicated from a computer screensaver; and Soundgarden lyrics translated into Farsi text.

Robert Davis/Michael Langlois lead a free gallery talk about their exhibit on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, at 6 pm.

Full Media Release and Images

SOURCE: MCA

Cerasoli Gallery: ROY NACHUM 'Prophecy' Opening Reception: Saturday August 22, 6-9pm

C E R A S O L I g a l l e r y presents

ROY NACHUM 'Prophecy'

August 22 - September 16, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday August 22, 6-9pm




C E R A S O L I Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of extraordinary works by Roy Nachum on view in Gallery 1 & 2 at the Cerasoli Gallery.
Exhibition opens August 22, 2009, and remains on view through September 16, 2009. Opening reception For the public is Saturday, August 22, from 6pm – 9pm.

Suffused with the divine light of the Renaissance masters, Roy Nachum’s texturized, surrealist paintings are scaled to life size, but his images resist the conventions reality imposes on both wilderness and civilization. Partially nude women crouch next to kneeling elephants to peer into their eyes and stroke their nubile trunks. A boy, blinded by the heavy crown which has slipped over his ears to cover his eyes, runs through a house of mirrors with a red balloon tied to his wrist. Nachum’s photo-real figures inhabiting fantastic worlds are overlaid with a texture of raised ‘pixels’ of paint, each one painstakingly hand-made by the artist. The result of this unexpected topography is a feeling of glimpsing a stranger’s dirty little secrets through an inky, rain-spotted windowpane or finding pages torn from a book of exotica, left outside to decompose like so many dead leaves and abandoned desires. Perhaps intended to serve as a kind of mirror caught between two worlds, Nachum’s geometrically patterned paint daubs reflect the atomic building blocks of life while mimicking the tell-tale thumbprint of a digital printer. The viewer instinctively draws in for a closer inspection and is reminded of the abstraction which exists behind our veil of reality. This duality goes beyond the canvas’ surface quality, revealing itself in Nachum’s mix of the imaginary world and real life, memories and fantasies, found in his startling, dreamlike imagery. Explorations of submergence and emergence, naivete and maturity, the real and unreal, Nachum’s paintings invite the viewer into a dualistic experience combining the virtual and psychic in a single, focused, artful moment.

Nachum is also well known for his work as an interior designer, which has appeared in restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels in the United States and Europe, including Club Door, TAO Nightclub at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Cafe Bari,SoHo, 1Oak, Lower Manhattan, Southern Hospitality and Destino both Upper East Side owned by Justin Timberlake.

Educated in Jerusalem at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and New York City’s Cooper Union, Nachum is interested in recreating psychological turning points in his subjects’ lives with a cinematic sense of framing movement and emotion. Currently living and working in New York City, Nachum’s work has been exhibited in France, Israel, and the United States, and collected by prominent art collectors, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake.

C E R A S O L I gallery 8530 - b Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
Tue- Sat 11am - 6pm / Tel. 310 954 5974 / contact@cerasoligallery.com / Directions: http://tinyurl.com/orxf8p

"Cerasoli is small, but mighty – and it encourages you to find your own underlying theme between the three rooms. You may pick up on something nobody else had thought of yet! " Nicole Campoy - Editor of Fine Arts LA : http://www.fineartsla.com/tag/cerasoli-gallery

Freddi Cerasoli on what you need to know about art http://tiny.cc/Z5f7Q
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elementalc/sets/72157621969209565/

Source: Lucy Beer @ Elemental Consulting

WHO SHOT YA: Canon PowerShot G11

Canon PowerShot G11 Digital Camera
The PowerShot G-series has long been the flagship of the PowerShot line. The new Canon PowerShot G11 Digital Camera further adds to the legacy of this award-winning series with its advanced features, variety of shooting modes and compatible EOS accessories which help to enhance one's photographic creativity. Designed for those looking for a pocket-sized camera with SLR functionality, this new powerful camera is ideal for the consumer who is looking to capture beautiful landscapes and professional portraits by offering:
• A 10.0-Megapixel High Sensitivity System to capture images with a powerful 5x Optical Zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, a 28mm (equivalent to 28-140 mm) wide-angle lens helps to get large groups into one shot at events such as a family reunion.
• A 2.8-inch vari-angle PureColor System LCD, new to the G-series, allowing for easier on-camera previewing and reviewing of images from nearly every angle, while still incorporating the optical viewfinder found on previous models.
• Easy access to heavily used functions with two mode dials for adjusting ISO and exposure compensation, and a full range of shooting and recording modes, including RAW + JPEG for ultimate creative control when editing images.
• A host of optional accessories, including Speedlite flashes, an underwater housing and a tele-converter lens to provide further photographic flexibility.

Scheduled to be available in October, the PowerShot G11 Digital Camera retails for an estimated price of $499.99.


Source: Gizmodo

20 x 200 Wednesday Edition: Emily Shur

BIO:
Emily was born in New York City, at New York Hospital, to an auditorium full of nursing students. She attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, majored in photography and graduated in 1998 with academic honors and the Artist Award for Creative Excellence.

Emily’s editorial clientele includes: The New York Times Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Interview, Wired and Elle Magazine, among others. Her work has been featured in Communication Arts (2005) and included in American Photography 22, 24 and 25 (2006, 2008 and 2009).

In 2005, Emily was selected as a winner in The Art Director’s Club Young Guns global competition. In 2008, she received an honorable mention in the Photography.Book.Now competition and was also honored to have an image in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2009, Emily was one of 100 photographers invited to participate in Review Santa Fe.

To learn more about Emily and to purchase her art, click HERE.

Partial Bio: 20 x 200

Propagating Room by Yayoi Kusama

At the risk of sounding predictable we’re a bit dotty about Yayoi Kusama’s latest creation – an installation of her trademark spots in Comme des Garcons’ new concept space, Six, designed by Rei Kawakubo, on the second floor of Comme’s store in Osaka.

Kusama’s work is disarmingly simple and charming, principally because of its simplicity, creating and transforming environments with a blanket of polka dots. She cropped up in London’s Hayward gallery exhibition, Walking in My Mind, earlier in the summer, where she covered a room and a series of objects in a cartoonish toadstool pattern of red background and white spots.

To read more, click HERE.

Source: Wallpaper

FRANK STELLA "Katsura"

This massive wall-relief is constructed from sections of brightly painted aluminum which have been fixed to a rectangular base. Stella has skillfully balanced the monumental quality of the work with the apparent freedom of its support, offered by a discreet curved grille structure which permits the spectator to see through to the wall behind. The three-dimensional abstract cut-outs challenge the traditional confines of the picture plane as their freedom of construction permits no defined edges.

The work shows a number of influences. One of these is Minimalism, demonstrated in the use of mass-made material and the industrial method of enlarging a maquette which was handmade by the artist. Another is Abstract Expressionism, evident in the freely applied paint. Stella's wide range of work includes highly innovative prints, some of which are monumental in size.

Frank Stella. b Malden, MA, 1936. Katsura. 1979. Oil and epoxy on aluminum and wire mesh with metal tubing. h292.1 x w233.7 cm. h115 x w92 in. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

See: Caro, Hofmann, Johns, Kelly, Pollock, Ryman

The Art Book (p.445). New York: Phaidon Press Inc (2001)

Patrick McMullan/Zach Hyman at CHAIR AND THE MAIDEN GALLERY 08.20-30.09

chair and the maiden presents
DECENT EXPOSURES
BY ZACH HYMAN
20 AUG - 30 AUG 2009


OPENING RECEPTION
THURSDAY 20 AUG 2009
SIX TO EIGHT PM
CHAIR AND THE MAIDEN GALLERY
19 CHRISTOPHER STREET
NEW YORK CITY
WWW.CHAIRANDTHEMAIDEN.COM

REAL TALK: 08.17.09

All my life I have worked to be able to earn my living, but I thought that one could do good painting without attracting attention to one's private life. Certainly, an artist wishes to raise himself intellectually as much as possible, but the man must remain obscure. The pleasure must be found in the work.
:::Paul Cezanne:::

FIRST LOOK: Thaweesak Srithongdee

To read the article accompanying the photos, click HERE.

Polart 600 Exhibition @ Rat Hole Gallery Recap

Openers offers a closer look into Nobuyoshi Araki’s “Polart 6000″ Exhibition, which opened back in mid-July at the Rat Hole Gallery in Tokyo. The show celebrated the photographer’s enormous range of photographic work (6,000 Polaroids), interpreted through the walls of the Japanese gallery space. For those interested in attending, the show runs through Thursday, August 20th, 2009.

Rat Hole Gallery
5-5-3 B1
Minami Aoyama
Minato-Ku Tokyo

SOURCE: HB

Julius Shulman: 1910-2009

The great architectural photographer Julius Shulman has died. Shulman did for L.A. Modernism what George Hurrell did for Rita Hayworth, gave it luster. He understood the beauty of the plane and void combinations of architects like Richard Neutra and Pierre Koenig, and he made their elegant wood and glass boxes seem natural byproducts of the SoCal landscape. The material Utopia those pictures promised was always just a dream, but he produced its definitive picture. He was the Watteau of a certain kind of L.A. fantasy land.

SOURCE: TIME

Artist of the Day: Wanmhope

The works made by the Italian artist Wanmhope radiate flights of fantasy and imagination that are full of hidden meanings and expressions of contemporary culture. They are sometimes pushy, sometimes modest, sometimes elegant and sometimes rough. But, above all, the creations of Wanmhope are all beautifully composed and accomplished.

Dazed Digital: What does Wanmhope mean?
Wanmhope Artist: Wanmhope in Neapolitan dialect means 'a thing beautiful'.

DD: How would you describe your own work?
Wanmhope Artist: My work is divided – I travel to see new cities and follow new sensations and ideas.I compare myself with what I see on the streets and galleries and I merge them into one personal vision.

DD: Tell us more about your work process?
Wanmhope Artist: The beginning of my work requires preparation and reflection. The themes covered are exasperation, aesthetics, and fragility of existence.

DD: What inspires you to create?
Wanmhope Artist: My inspiration is born from changes in society, from my experience and from things that I see. Music and fashion are of great importance in my life.

DD: What other passions do you have in life?
Wanmhope Artist: I love new technology, design, architecture and cinematography, and my Xbox360 is always on.

DD: What are your future goals?
Wanmhope Artist: To expose my artworks in good galleries such as Diana Stigter, Hohenlohe, Addict Galerie, and White Cube.

SOURCE: DD

Christie's Announces Second Yves Saint Laurent Collection Sale in Paris

PARIS.-Christie’s, in collaboration with Pierre Bergé and Associates, announced the second sale of the Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé Collection that will take place in Paris on 17th, 18th and 19th November 2009. Proceeds of the sale will benefit H.I.V research and the fight against Aids. Almost 1200 works of Art from Château Gabriel à Bénerville as well as from the Parisian residences of the two collectors will be presented for sale. Seventeen specialist departments are involved: Old Masters and 19th Century Drawings and Paintings, Impressionist and Modern Art, Prints, Contemporary Art, Decorative Art, Furniture, Sculpture, Ceramics, Silver, Asian and Islamic Art, Antiquities, African and Australian Art, as well as pieces from Natural History, Books, Jewellery and Textiles. The value of the sale is estimated between €3 million to €4 million.

Chateau Gabriel
This property, certainly one of the most beautiful on the coast of Normandy, was built in 1874 for an American family. Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought it at the beginning of the 1980’s. Eclectic in style, Château Gabriel is situated in the heart of a 74 acre park on Mont-Casiny in Bénerville, overlooking Deauville.

Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé asked Jacques Grange to decorate the interior design. Together, they decided the decoration would seek inspiration from the world of À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, the atmosphere of the castles developed by King Louis II of Bavaria around Munich between 1869 and 1890, and the decor of Luchino Visconti’s films, especially Innocente which was Yves Saint-Laurent’s favourite.

In 2005, Jacques Grange told the New York Times: “I adore Château Gabriel. It is an incredible, extraordinary house. I would love to completely dismantle it and spread its spirit around the world”. Yves Saint-Laurent described his house in Bénerville as follows: “This is my haven between two storms. I come here to rebuild my strength”.

The Ground Floor: The Entrance Hall, The Living Room, The Winter Garden, Yhe Library and The Dining Room

The ground floor opens on the entrance hall, illuminated by a magnificent 19th century Dutch ceiling light made of copper with 34 arms (estimate: €50,000-70,000). The wooden steps of the grand staircase are reflected by a monumental 19th century mirror (estimate: €30,000-50,000). Further away, in the gallery leading to the living room and the library, sits a large Fahua type Ming Dynasty Chinese basin from the early 16th century (estimate: €40,000-60,000).

The living room: From the Napoleon III sofas and armchairs, one could enjoy Luna, a work by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, which was sold last February for a record price of €1,095,400. Yves Saint-Laurent wanted the walls painted in a way that would remind him of Claude Monet’s large Nymphéas, because this famous artist inspired Marcel Proust for his character of Elistir, the painter in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. In this room, the furnishings were carefully selected to evoke the world and oeuvre of Proust: a group of six neo-Gothic rosewood chairs dating from Charles X (estimate: €15,000-20,000) sit on an Agra rug with Cairene motifs, made in Northern India at the end of the 19th century (estimate: €20,000-30,000). A multitude of objects, 19th century Barbotine ware, porcelain dishes, vases, flower pots as well as bowls and plates signed by André Metthey (estimate: from €800) and candleholders are all on display, reflecting the epitomy of taste and elegance.

The winter garden, next to the living room, was always packed with blossoming orchids in large Chinese vases made of blue and white porcelain, (estimate: €2,000-3,000).

Sir Edward Burne-Jones - "Luna" Courtesy Christie’s ImagesThe library is dominated by a monumental stone chimney decorated with a pair of Renaissance style large andirons, inspired by , representing Jupiter and Juno (estimate: €6,000-9,000). It was flanked on each side by a pair of twelve armed candelabras after Barye (estimate: €8,000-12,000). A colossal gilded bronze ceiling light, probably a work from Maison Baguès (estimate: €50,000-70,000), overhung this temple of knowledge. Photographs of Marcel Proust and Claude Monet were presented on a large Louis XVI style desk in dark wood (estimate: €4,000-6,000). Some bronzes representing The Farnese Hercules, 19th century Italian school (estimate: €4,000-6,000) further enhanced the room’s décor.

The Upper Storeys: The First and Second Floors
Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé christened these rooms with the names of characters from Marcel Proust’s masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu. On the first floor, composed of three suites, Yves Saint Laurent’s bedroom bore the name of Charles Swann, while Pierre Bergé’s was named after Baron Palamède de Charlus.

The overall atmosphere of the couturier’s suite brings us back to the turn of the 20th century. The adjacent cabinet boasts a salon ensemble of the Biedermeier era (six chairs and a sofa, estimated: €4,000-6,000), a ceiling light from the early 1900s (estimate: €15,000-20,000), enamelled glass vases of the same period (estimate: €300-400), a pair of Emile Gallé faience candlesticks, circa 1870 (estimate: €5,000-7,000), and various objects à l’antique, such as a pair of bronzes (estimate: €3,000-5,000) resting on a pair of carved bronze stands, dating from the second half of the 19th century (estimate: €30,000-50,000).


The Office of Yves Saint Laurent 5 Avenue Marceau
Just a few metres away from the studio where he had worked, the couturier designed an office inspired by the work of Christian Bérard, a painter who he admired, emblematic of the neo-romantic style that he developed with Eugène Berman and Pavlik Tchelitchev.

The pair of Doric plaster columns (estimate: €600-800) surmounted by gilded bronze and crystal garlands (estimate: €2,000-3,000) framed a mirror decorated with climbing reeds (estimate: €3,000-4,000), the bench and red velvet cushion with cream-colored buttoning and a fringe (estimate: €800-1,200), or the pair of stools in X attributed to René Prou (estimate: €2,000-3,000). A Louis XVI-style, gilded bronze and crystal chandelier (estimate: €5,000-7,000) illuminated the mantelpiece where a pair of the opulent garlands (estimate: €5,000-7,000) framed yet another amazing mirror, decorated in natural vegetation (estimate: €6,000-8,000). As in all his houses, a bouquet of wheat is present, reunited here as a sheaf in a large vase.

From the Parisian Apartments
The auction in February 2009 boasted the masterpieces of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection. In November the auction will present a multitude of objects of a more understated charm, often with a very personal relevance, which reflected the everyday existence of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. These include more than 500 pieces of Modern Art, Art Deco, Furniture, European Art, Antiquities and Old Master and 19th Century Pictures and Drawings.

We will once again encounter the mélange of periods and styles that were so dear to these two collectors: the little Art Deco boxes that one could find peppered throughout the library, the bedroom or the grand salon, some in straw marquetry, others in enamel, shagreen or silver (estimate: from €300); their small Art Deco clocks, including some signed by Cartier (estimate: from €700); certain copperware pieces from the music room, signed by Jean Dunand or Claudius Linossier (estimate: from €800).

SOURCE: AKN

BREAKING NEWS: Woman Throws Mug at 'Mona Lisa"

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece the "Mona Lisa" was attacked with a mug earlier this month, but the world's most famous painting -- protected by thick glass -- emerged with its enigmatic smile undimmed.
The "Mona Lisa" sits behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre gallery.

The "Mona Lisa" sits behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre gallery.

French police say a woman "not in her senses" lobbed the mug at the 500-year-old painting, which hangs in the Louvre gallery in Paris.

The woman, a tourist, was later transferred from police custody to a psychiatric unit, a police spokesman told CNN. The spokesman declined to be identified, and did not say where the woman was from.

The "Mona Lisa," considered one of the world's most valuable paintings, sits behind bulletproof glass in a special wing of the Louvre, attracting visitors in their millions.

The Italian Renaissance masterpiece, which depicts a dark-haired young woman with an aloof facial expression, has been the target of attacks in the past.

In 1956 the artwork was damaged when acid was thrown at it. A rock was also thrown in a separate incident in the same year.

In 1911 it was stolen from the Louvre but was returned two years later.

Source: CNN

Target Free Thursdays @ Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)

Free admission every Thursday, 11 am - 9 pm



Come to MOCA's Target Free Thursday on August 6th!


11 am; 12:30 pm; 2:00 pm; 3:30 pm; 5:00 pm; 6:30 pm: Screenings of Chinatown Film Project (Rotating Gallery)



11 am - 9 pm: MOCA Core Portraits (Lobby)
Core Portraits videos (each 3-minute in length) present first-person voices of Chinese Americans whose lives expemplify a particular historical period, including Yung Wing, the first Chinese to graduate from an American University; Tung Funn Hom, Paper son and laundryman; Anna May Wong, international film star; Hazel Ying Lee, Woman Airforce Service Pilot.


8 pm - 9 pm

Thursday Night Fight! The Art of Stage Combat Choreography

From Shakepeare to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to The Matrix, stage combat has been a staple feature in theater and film. Chester Poon, Jesus Martinez, Adelina Amosco and Jose Esquea from Teatro LA TEA's spring production of Romeo and Juliet show you how it's done.





ARTISTS BIOS



CHESTER POON was born and raised in western Massachusetts. He was most recently seen as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at Teatro La Tea directed by Jose Esquea. Fight Choreography credit include Macbeth 2029, Lanford Wilson's Burn This, and Othello in which he is a recipient of the 2007 HOLA award for his work as co-fight director/choreographer along with co-choreographer Jesus Martinez. Theater credits include Macbeth (Banquo), Othello (Cassio), and Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays with Ma-Yi Theater Co./Public Theater. He has martial arts experience is primarily in Sanshou Chinese kickboxing, Hung-gar Kung Fu, and Capoeira Angola.





JESUS E. MARTINEZ is a stage actor, voice-over artist and certified actor combatant and hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. Jesús acquired his B.A. in Drama Studies at SUNY Purchase College. He then traveled to Italy where he studied and performed classical and contemporary theatre. He is currently member of Repertorio Español\Spanish Repertory Theatre and SEA (Society of Educational Arts) all based in New York City, and is a Voice-Over artist for the English and Spanish-language markets. A few of Jesús’ stage & screen credits include: The Encounter of Juan Bobo and Pedro Animal (SEA), Martina the little roach (SEA), El Quijote (Repertorio Español), Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette (Teatro La TEA), P.S. I Love You (Warner Bros.), The Unusuals (ABC), Notorious (20th Century Fox), among many others.





ADELINA AMOSCO was born in the Philippines and raised in the Bronx. She recently completed a run with Teatro La Tea's Spring production of Romeo and Juliet. Her credits include, Between the Lines’ productions of From Auction Block to Hiphop and Platanos and Collard Greens; Medea; The House of Bernarda Alba; Becoming Memories; and I Ought to be in Pictures. Adelina is also a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Fordham University with a degree in Psychology.





JOSE A. ESQUEA is currently the artistic director of Teatro LA-TEA. He is a life long practitioner of Martial Arts. Like most Americans born in the and raised in the early seventies he was inspired to take up the martial arts after seeing his first Bruce Lee movie Return of Dragon. His studies in the Martial Arts began during a 3 year stay in the Dominican Republic where he studied Shorin-Ryu Karate. This was followed by Tae-kwan-do studies in Florida, full contact karate again the DR, JKD concepts, when he returned to New York for high school, Kempo and Tai-chi while in college in Saratoga springs, Capoeira Angola, and most recently Chung Do Kwan.





Upcoming Performances:

August 13: Spoken word performance by Kelly Tsai
August 27: Stone Forest Ensemble (hip-hop/classical/afro-beat)

www.mocanyc.org

Simon Ungers: Light Works @ GERING/LOPEZ GALLERY

SIMON UNGERS

LIGHT WORKS

OPENING THIS FALL

GERING & LóPEZ GALLERY is pleased to present Light Works, a posthumous solo exhibition of sculpture by the German artist and architect Simon Ungers.

The totemic light works of this exhibition assume an imposing aura, dominating the gallery space and intervening in the viewer's sense of spatial orientation. At the same time, the works possess an ethereal quality, as these ghostly glowing forms appear hollow, empty. The result is a powerful presence that keeps absence close at hand. Aesthetically elegant and evocative, these monoliths deliver an encounter with the sublime.

Fall gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For further information please contact Julie Bills at 646.336.7183 or info@geringlopez.com.

www.geringlopez.com

FIFTY24SF Presents El Mac "Faces of Life"

You are cordially invited to join us for the Opening Reception at:

FIFTY24SF Gallery

August 6th, 2009

7-9:30 pm

248 Fillmore St, SF, CA, 94117



For more information regarding the show and the advanced release copies of "Songs of Songs" - El Mac's newest print, please contact Lynzy@upperplayground.com

Click the link below to view the exclusive pre-show preview.

http://web.me.com/fifty24sfgallery/FIFTY24SF/FIFTY24SFGalleryPresents.html

SOURCE: Upper Playground