Images of the Day

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Reneke Dijkstra, video stills from
I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), 2009-10,
on view through August 21 at Marian Goodman Gallery in NYC.

Dijkstra's 12-minute piece trains the camera on a group of British schoolchildren on a trip to the Tate Liverpool, as they react to and discuss Picasso's 1937 painting of his mistress Dora Maar. I love what New York Times critic Roberta Smith has to say about the children's comments (among them that Picasso has painted "how it would feel on the inside"):

This piece is like a primer for looking at art. It confirms the paramount importance of openness, and the willingness to examine everything that crosses one’s mind. Grasping at straws can lead to solid ground that can feel remarkably universal.

Pablo Picasso, Weeping Woman, 1937.

5:04 PM

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Wild Nothing "Summer Holiday."
From Gemini (Captured Tracks, 2010).

Image of the Day

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The Huff and Puff Drive-In on Highway 12, Washington State – a photo by Kyle Johnson from a forthcoming series.
Makes me want to roadtrip really, really bad.

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

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sleeping dad don't bug me

Image of the Day

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Stills from an animated feature at AnOther on six recent graduates from Central Saint Martins, the Antwerp Academy, and the Royal College of Art – Europe's top schools for fashion design.

I always like seeing what graduating design students (fashion or otherwise) are doing because it tends to reflect pure inspiration, with an awareness of but less concern for the larger commercial world. "How would they describe their own work?," AnOther asks. "Controlled maximalism with a focus on texture, says Matthew Harding. An imaginary world. Not a dream world, but one that exists parallel to ours, says Nathalie Fordeyn. Pure, clear, sober, says Simone Sommer." Click here to see the animated photos (very cool, and great color), and to read short interviews with the designers.

Looks shown above, clockwise from top left:
Chen Shao-Yen, Central Saint Martins
Nathalie Fordeyn, Antwerp Academy
Kirsty Emery, Royal College of Art
Matthew Harding, Central Saint Martins
Lilly Heine, Central Saint Martins
Simone Sommer, Royal College of Art.

Shoot credits: Film: Ben Toms / Styling: Cathy Edwards / Concept and Interactive Direction: Francisco Salvado / Model: Melissa Tammerijn at Union Models / Hair: Naoki Komiya at Julian Watson Agency / Make-up: Janeen Witherspoon at Julian Watson Agency / Styling assistance: Hollie Lacayo / Hair assistant: Shin Sone

Hip Drop

.[via Wax Poetics]

Best Foot Forward

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A nude pump is definitely on my list for Fall.

Stella McCartney Fall 2010 RTW

For now, these would be an acceptable, and less expensive, stand-in:

Elizabeth and James snake-effect leather pumps,
$395 at Net-a-Porter.

Optics

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Click images to enlarge / click here to view all.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

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If you're in Seattle or environs and haven't seen the Kiki Smith show at the Henry Art Gallery yet, I highly – no, insistently – recommend a trip before it closes this weekend.

Kiki Smith, Untitled

This jam-packed exhibition of Smith's sculpture, photos, drawings, and collage is easily one of the best I've seen in at least the past year. The body of work on display evidences a designer's eye for composition, placement, and contrast, and a sensibility that sees the natural world in terms that are both clinical and lyrically beautiful. A large part of the show consists of photographs of Smith's sculptures in the making – work that sounds boring but that, in addition to revealing Smith's process of creation, is often dark and fascinating in its own right.

Kiki Smith, Untitled (Head of Guanyin)

Kiki Smith, Harpies

All along the way Smith explores themes of life, death, and decay, myth and reality, and flips the script on the line between object and viewer.

Kiki Smith, Sleeping Witch

You come away feeling like you've learned a secret about the dirty muck and spiritual mystery of life that is common to the most and least among us alike. A+.

Kiki Smith, Untitled (from: Crow)

I Myself Have Seen It: Photography & Kiki Smith is up through Sunday, August 15. The Henry is open 11-4 Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, and 11-9 Thursday and Friday.

Image of the Day

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Perry Woodfin The Beauty of Chance, chosen by juror Suzanne Beal as "Best of Show" in the twelfth annual Art Port Townsend festival. See more of (my uncle) Perry's work at perrywoodfin.com (much more coming soon....)

Image of the Day

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James Welling Torso 1, 2005–2008 (Chromogenic color print). I first saw images from this series in the Whitney Biennial a few years ago and it was cool to see this one again recently in Contemporary Works from the Monsen Family Collection, up through November 28th at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. The description on the wall says that "after cutting and bending window screens into a form resembling a human torso, Welling placed the shaped screens on photosensitive paper, exposed the paper to light and processed the paper to make a photogram. He then scanned the photogram, 'finessed' the image with Photoshop, and printed the digital file back onto photosensitive paper." More info at the Henry and at David Zwirner.

Lamest Fortune Ever

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Oh Alberta

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The new Alberta Ferretti campaign...

...a smart and timely concept, and beautifully timeless photos by who else but Paolo Roversi.

Second Life

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Yesterday the New York Times business section featured an article called "Finding New Life (and Profit) in Doomed Trees" about Meyer Wells, a small business which makes custom furniture from trees naturally downed in and around Seattle. It's worth reading on both a business level and on a cool-product level.

[Meyer Wells], started four years ago, bears all the markers that would seem to point toward collapse and extinction in a recessionary economy. It’s founded on idealism and emotion. It’s riddled with huge and unavoidable inefficiencies. And it tenders a high-end product that asks buyers to take risks and have faith.
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“People who buy furniture here are adventurers,” says Mr. Meyer. “They see the tree and get to be part of the process. They have to have an adventurous spirit, they have to be patient, and they have to trust. There’s an element of risk.”
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He suddenly becomes a tour guide to a whole geography embedded in the wood — “islands” and “cathedrals” in the grain. “I’m looking to see how the grain of one board flows into the next so that the composition feels harmonious,” he says.
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If there’s one rule in the shop, it’s this: Respect the tree’s narrative — including the chapters about its hard urban life. Mr. Meyer once found a steel snippet embedded in a beautiful cherry slab, perhaps a remnant of a nail used to hammer a “lost cat” sign to the tree. He left it in place, a piece of the story.

Read the rest at nytimes.com and visit Meyer Wells blog here.