Two Passions; One Post

So I thought my next post would be a continuation of the previous one, and I promise that will come, but I had to share this.

I was just reading Jak and Jil ( the fashion blog for those of you who don't know- and really by now you should!!!) and saw these absolutely divine Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte shoes. They really reminded me of Rachel Kneebone's sculptural work. Fashion truly is a form of art especially at this level and it's so interesting to see how one influences another, don't you think??

http://jakandjil.com/blog
Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte Fall/Winter 2010/11//

Rachel Kneebone The Descent

The Descent - detail

This sort of fluidity is what excites me about contemporary art and how reflective it is of our society. If you don't know about Kneebone, Kirkwood or Rodarte I hope you will start investigating now. Three great artists, six stunning images.

I have taken a little break from blogging but am back and here to stay! Whilst tirelessly looking for a job in the art industry I have become slightly jaded with the vicious cycle that graduates now face. One needs an internship to get a job but often needs an internship to secure an internship and often once the coveted internship has finished, one still cannot find a job. Sorry I know I just wrote internship one too many times but it's a frustrating process, one which has brought me back to my blog. I love art and all that it encompasses so why not find some solace from the jungle of unemployment here in blogosphere?!

That brings me to inspiration. I have been contemplating why I arrived at the decision to work in the creative industries and which works of art continually inspire my desire for a career and a life surrounded by paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations.

So here are a few of my favourites. I cherish these pieces as if they were my family heirlooms. I can come back to them again and again; learning something new, finding a different answer and falling back in love with the beauty of visual arts.

Paul Delaroche The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833)

Sam Taylor Wood Self Portrait as a Tree

Vincent Van Gogh Van Gogh's Chair (1888)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir The Umbrellas (approx 1881-86)

The relationship between the Van Gogh and the Taylor Wood strongly resonates with me and had a deep impact on my decision to follow a career in the arts and hopefully one day as a curator. All will be explained in my next post!

Bye for now x

List of Dreams

In no particular order...

1. Turner Prize @ Tate Britain
2. Sophie Calle @ Whitechapel Gallery
3. Turner and the Masters @ Tate Britain
4. Damien Hirst @ Wallace Collection
5. Maharaja @ Victoria & Albert Museum
6. Anish Kapoor @ The Royal Academy of Art
7. Ed Ruscha @ The Hayward
8. Anselm Kiefer @ White Cube

December issues of Dazed & Confused, Art Review, Vanity Fair, Pop, Elle ...blah blah blah and the list goes on.

Afternoon Inspiration

So I was reading Dazed Digital today and saw an interview between Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield, both stars of the forthcoming film 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'. The two interviewed each other and the quote below really got me thinking. Not strictly art but who doesn't love a bit of Dazed & Confused to brighten up a Wednesday afternoon!?!!?!

Lily Cole: Would you rather lose your sense of humour or lose your sense of purpose?
Andrew Garfield: I’d rather lose my sense of purpose if purpose (outside of procreating) in fact exists. You need a sense of humour to deal with the idea that having a purpose in life may just be a dream. Having a purpose without a sense of humour is in itself purposeless.


Part Two of Frieze coming soon.

Frieze

The most exciting part of my day at Frieze occurred before I had even finished getting lost in Regent's Park trying to find the entrance to the fair. I was asked to have my photograph taken for fashion student's project. As much as I was embarrassed about having to describe my style, the lovely girl fulfilled a secret dream of mine; that someone would have style envy over me! Yay!

Okay so on to art. I think three things really affected my Frieze experience this year. The first being my never ending flu, the second would be the Recession - which is probably the most over used word of 2009, and the third is the fact that last year was my first ever time at Frieze, so it was always going to be a challenge to re create the excitement I had felt.

Frieze is huge. Bigger than huge. Ginormous!!! For this reason I obviously cannot comment on every piece, let alone every gallery. What I can do is write about what I loved and what I didn't love so much. My favourite piece was by Damien Hirst at White Cube. There lay a large glass case full of perfect silver knives, scissors, pliers and other instruments of torture. The items were lined up with such precision only befitting a psychopath. It was sickeningly seductive. A rush of excitement bathed me as I imagined Patrick Batemen lining up his tools, ready to commit his crimes. The piece was titled 'The Night of the Long Knives' which was even more thrilling especially considering my unrelenting obsession with World War Two.

Another favourite piece of mine was 'Big Fan' by Marc Flood. The transition from Stalker to Audience captures the voyeuristic nature that is so highly prevalent in today's society. Magazines and reality shows reign supreme and the mystery of the celebrity that existed fifty years ago is non existent. The stalker is placed in the minority and the audience in the majority, but is the gap between the two so large anymore? It is probably an obvious observation to make and perhaps Flood's work isn't groundbreaking but it presented an interesting idea and in a flood of art, caught my attention.

So much more to comment on, Tracey Emin's commissioned Neon, the clocks piece, the club with a violinist and my introduction to Susan Collis but alas sleep beckons, so for now..Adios x

The Pop Life Disaster

So- after suffering with the flu all week ( typical occurance in my life) I decided to finally finish my post about the current exhibition at the Tate Modern. After tapping away on the keys for the last hour I managed to delete all of the post including the new material I added today. Instead of crying over the keyboard I will take it on the chin, take a break and then post about Frieze. Perhaps one day I will come back to Pop Life and tell you all what I really thought!

Off to work on Frieze x

Getting the hang of this!

So I'm really excited for the upcoming week; tomorrow I'm going to see the Pop Life exhibition at Tate Modern and then next Saturday its FRIEZE time. Between now and next weekend I will definitely write about how excited I am about Frieze more than is actually necessary. I just love it, the people, the art, the buzz, the sculpture park! Last year I stood next to David La Chapelle as I explained to my mum why I'm not a Warhol fan and actually nearly stopped breathing! How are they going to top the smoking booths and the red carpet?

Just. So. Excited.

I'm already dreaming that Jake and Dinos Chapman are there and offer me a job shadowing their every move.

So anyway, enough rambling. Last year I was handed an orange A4 piece of paper. I read what was on it, fell in love, and now it sits proudly on my dressing table in a black/grey frame
(I curated it myself!) It has actually become a test for life- if you get it, you get me. Anyway read it for yourselves:

The last time I saw you, you asked me to tell you
what I wanted. You said you couldn't tell, that I
was ambivalent. You don't even have a favorite
color, you said. But that's not true. My favorite
color is your favorite color. My favorite meal,
yours. Why does this make you so angry? I have my
own mind but my desire is not a thinking: it is an
echo, a reverberating shock. Why can't I want for
myself the same things you want for you? Why can't
I love myself as you love me? I am so much yours, I
am no longer myself.

For me, it transformed the art at Frieze from something to look at, to something to touch and not only that but Frieze then became slightly more democratic. I cannot afford to buy anything apart from the sushi, so this allowed me to take something home and have it become a part of my life. After all is that not what art is about?

Ciao for now!

P.S if anyone know's the author/artist please tell me!