Image of the Day

.Jordan Kantor: Eclipse, 2009 (Suite of five screenprints on clear polycarbonate and silver Mylar sheets, 30 x 34 1/2 in. each) – on view tomorrow through January 23rd in what looks to be another excellent new show at the Henry, Image Transfer: Pictures in a Remix Culture. The opening party is tonight (members 6-8PM / general public, 8-10PM) and as a special early bonus, Jordan Kantor and several other artists featured in Image Transfer will be taking part in a panel discussion on the exhibition at 5PM.

More images and info from the show at henryart.org.

Image courtesy of the artist and Ratio 3 by way of the Henry.

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

.Cat in a box

Best Foot Forward

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Continuing with the 70s theme, these are perfect for the disco.

Stella McCartney Metallic Ankle-Strap Sandals,
$745 at Intermix.

Shop Talk

I've been on an image/inspiration hunt most of the day, and while in the midst of that ran across some Scott Schuman photos I saved a few years back of Tomas Maier's shop in Miami.

Maier is the visionary creative director of Bottega Veneta, as well as for his own line.

One of the other reasons he has stood out in my mind is that he has employed photographers such as Larry Sultan, Nan Goldin, Robert Longo, and Sam Taylor-Wood to shoot Bottega campaigns that might normally be shot by more conventional fashion photographers.

Maier's eclectic taste is reflected in the well-edited variety of his shop. Kind of makes me want to get into retail. Here's an article about Tomas Maier from a recent issue of W, and here is his website. Check out some looks from Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2011 collection here.

Retribution

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Trailer for the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Hailee Steinfeld. I'm trying to not be excited about this so my expectations aren't too high, but that's a battle I am losing.

Public Strain

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My two favorite albums of the year (thus far) are in stores today, and not a moment too soon. I have been listening to both over the past several weeks of summer and in doing so have at times felt like a goth kid on the beach. Now that darker times are upon us, I feel fine.

First up: Public Strain, the second album by Women, again produced by genius Calgary resident Chad VanGaalen. It's basically a pop album covered in layers and layers of rust and moss and fog to the point that some new system of topographic contours are formed. I recommend taking it in as a whole (something I don't do much lately), however, the final cut, "Eyesore," is especially worthy of note. The way it builds from about 3:23 on and then resolves itself (resolves the whole album, really) basically expresses to me in music the pain and beauty and ultimate acceptance of being alive... I don't mind telling you. (Listening to this song makes me think of what Jack Kerouac wrote about Robert Frank's The Americans: "After seeing these pictures you end up finally not knowing whether a jukebox is sadder than a coffin.")

Women Eyesore mp3 – more info at Jagjaguwar and Flemish Eye

Next: Everything In Between, the third album by Los Angeles California band No Age. I'm pretty much open to whatever they want to do at this point (which is another way of saying that some of the time I am a fan more in theory than in practice*) but I was pleasantly surprised by the thorough catchiness of this record. The noise is still there but it seems more structured and sometimes it's more quiet and focused noise. Here's one favorite of many:

No Age Glitter mp3 – more info at Sub Pop

Anyway, thankfully I am not under pressure to write coherent record reviews anymore, but those are two albums I would recommend picking up this fine Tuesday afternoon.

*A fan more in theory than in practice: by this I mean that if a person sets up a system by which they make their artwork or design, such as, say, modernism, you might respect the system and often be completely enthralled with the outcome, while not necessarily personally connecting with it. Other times, you might thoroughly connect with the outcome on a soul level, and then be doubly pleased by both the individual thing and its place in the system.

Image of the Day

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Oddly one of my favorite photographs by Horst P. Horst – a 1946 portrait of Babe Paley, for Vogue. Prints of this and four other classic Vogue photographs (in editions of 30 each) are available from net-a-porter.com – click here to browse.

Image of the Day

Kiki Smith: Balanced Light, a reflection on the changing of seasons featured in the New York Times op-ed pages on March 20, 2007, and in this weekend's special section celebrating 40 years of the Times' Opinion Pages. Click here for a video featuring select artwork from the opinion pages, and here for a truly amazing collection of excerpts from opinion articles over the years.