Image of the Day

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Sucia Island, San Juans, July 2012.

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White Heat

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Been meaning to post this forever. Photography by Mario Sorrenti, styling by Camilla Nickerson, location: Marfa, TX. From the February 2010 issue of W. Enough said.

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Best Foot Forward

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I've been collecting inspiration for a styling project and have been thinking about Ricardo Tisci's Fall 2008 ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy. These would fit right in.

Nicholas Kirkwood suede shoe-boots with pleated frill, 

$1008 through farfetch.

Givenchy Fall 2008 RTW. 
style.com

Image of the Day

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Anna Piaggi (1931-2012), in the 1970s. 

Photograph by Wayne Stambler, 

via the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Below: a selection from Lagerfeld's Sketchbook (1986), a collection of sketches by Karl Lagerfeld chronicling 10+ years of Piaggi's inimitable style.

Slideshow at style.com.

"So I think I'm not going to go . . . because I'd rather kill myself."

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I am in love with this show already, and I've only seen the "premiere preview." The trailer doesn't do it justice. Serious future guilty pleasure. And just in time for gallery season!

"Gallery Girls" on Bravo. 

Premieres Aug. 13. An auspicious date.

Image of the Day

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Gore Vidal (Oct. 3, 1925 - July 31, 2012) in 1947.

Photograph by Jerry Cooke / Time & Life Pictures

Best Foot Forward

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I'm on the hunt for a new pair of black boots. Current front-runnner:

Alexander Wang Kolfinna boot, Fall 2012.

Cinched

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I really like the styling concept for this story. So simple. Plus I've been really into belts over everything lately for some reason, which makes this excellent personal sartorial inspiration.

"Violent Femmes" shot by Bruno Staub, 

featuring Yulia Kharlapanova and with styling by Anthony Unwin, 

for the April 2012 issue of Wonderland.

American Original

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(Written and directed by Queens native Benh Zeitlin, and winner of the 2012 SIFF Audience Award for Best Director.)

Image of the Day

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Rineke Dijkstra, Brighton, England, August 21, 1992.
The Guggenheim's mid-career survey of the Dutch artist's work
runs through October 8. More info here.

Best Foot Forward

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I'm really feeling the classics lately.

 

Christian Louboutin Lipsinka pin-heeled python pumps, 

$1,295 at net-a-porter.

Jimmy Choo Anouk patent leather pumps, $575 at net-a-porter

 (Also in silver, $650)

Image of the Day

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Rudolf Stingel, Untitled (Paula), 2012 (11 x 15 ')

Stingel's huge, photo-realist painting of gallerist Paula Cooper is based on a photograph of Cooper from the 1980s. The painting was recently exhibited at Art Basel as part of the Art Unlimited show, and I've been obsessing over it since I saw it in the Times a few weeks ago. (The painting was reportedly purchased for $3 million by François Pinault, before the fair opened.)

Critic Jerry Saltz on Paula Cooper, from a 2005 Village Voice review of a show by Stingel that included another portrait of Cooper:

Just as Stingel has tried to redefine what painting can be, Cooper is and has been a model for the kind of dealer most dealers start out wanting to be: compassionate, activist, and responsible. Cooper is one of the most respected gallerists in the history of art dealers. Curator Francesco Bonami calls her "the Greta Garbo of art dealers-detached and a true believer in the power of art."

Hers was the first gallery to open in Soho and among the first to show the work of Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Walter De Maria, Jennifer Bartlett, Jonathan Borofsky, Lynda Benglis, and Robert Gober. Over the years, she has allowed her gallery to be used for everything from the Student Mobilization Committee to end the war in Vietnam, to ACT UP benefits, to NARAL meetings. Now open for more than 40 years, her gallery continues to do great shows.

The most striking thing about Stingel's [2005 portrait of Cooper, based on a 1984 photo by Robert Mapplethorpe] is how candidly he renders Cooper's beauty. This painting reminded me of the huge crush I had on her 25 years ago when I worked as a truck driver and used to make deliveries to her gallery. She always gave us snacks.

Image of the Day

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Bruce Weber, 1982. 

From a story that year in British Vogue,
featuring models 

Bruce Hulse and Talisa Soto

(styled by Grace Coddington). 

The story, "Under Weston Eyes," was inspired by the work of photographer Edward Weston, of whom Weber says:

He took things that were very personal to him and let us see into that world. I thought it would be interesting to do a series of pictures of my own imaginary family, living together in the dysfunctional, neurotic, beautiful way that families do.

Photos from the story are part of the exhibition "A Bellport Tale," at the Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society on Long Island. Through September 3; more at T Magazine.

Like Air to Breathe

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Saw this with my girl at SIFF last month. So inspiring.

Ain't No Party Like a West Coast Party

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The magazine release and aftermath left us with not much time for updating the blog, but we're officially back in effect. To ease back in, some photos from the launch party last month. Thanks to everyone who came and turned it out!

 

Photography Kirby Ellis