FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES + CHRISTOPHER WOOL

Untitled, 1993

Offset Print

Two days ago, NYC was a rainy mess, and on this rainy, messy day, I decided to take a field trip to Queens to visit PS1. 

For those who haven't been there, PS1 is an old public school turned exhibition space. The interior itself is worth a visit. It's quite a throwback, with its narrow staircases and long hallways with classroom doors that open into converted galleries. 

I found this piece on the top floor. Although there's only one poster remaining, there was once a stack, and viewers were invited to take one (or more). Thus, the stack would diminish and change as the viewer then became an active participant in the art piece.

The message is quite striking, once you get through it. I'm unsure as to what the story is behind it, but I'm beyond intrigued.

Read more about Felix here.

Read more about Christopher here. (By the way, I can't tell you how beautiful I think this is.)

ERIKA SOMOGYI

Top:

Major Meltdown, 2006

Watercolor, gouache, colored pencil on paper with collage

Middle:

Light Eyes, 2007

Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bottom:

Driftwood Forest, 2006

Watercolor and gouache on paper

Fellow Brooklynite and fellow SVA-alum, Somogyi also sculpts. It was seriously a challenge to whittle the paintings down to these three favorites.

The multi-colored raindrops, barren trees, super-saturated color...dreamy...

Check out more of her work here.

PAULA SCHER HEARTS NY

Take a look at ADC's (done in 1998) intimate portrait of iconic designer and artist, Paula Scher.

My FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE pieces are her typographic maps (viewable in part 2, below). The colors are so moving and the textures created by the type are almost palpable.

I've also always loved the work that she has done for the Public Theater.

Here's part deux:

Lastly, see more of Paula's maps here. YUM!

FREDERICK J. KIESLER

Rocking Chair

1942

Plywood and linoleum

Apparently, the original piece is housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (just down the street from me!), so I'm going to have to check it out (Steal it. Ok. Borrow.).

The version above is a re-edition by Franz Wittmann Möbelwerkstätten.

Read more about Kiesler's work here.

And here's another of my favorites...of which I'm sure to dream about tonight.

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG + 

SUSAN WEIL

Untitled (Sue), 1950

Sure, they were married, but they also collaborated to make the above monoprint. The image was created by exposing blueprint paper to a sun lamp, and then fixing the image by applying a peroxide solution.

I can't tell you how much I am in love with this image. The details of the skirt (the scalloped hem, the faint vertical lines) are breathtaking. The way she raises her shoulders up to her ears makes the image take on a sense of urgency. The arrangement of her hands, though crossed at the wrists, seems to beckon.

It's immensely haunting.

SEEING DOUBLE: 

Love and Peace vs. 

The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

Top: Love and Peace by Caroline Calvin

Bottom: The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

Caroline Calvin created a denim mosaic that depicts a detail of Hokusai's well-known woodblock print, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. Sized at 22 feet x 12 feet, and incorporating 35 pairs of jeans, the piece is called Love and Peace. Calvin, a Levi's executive, used this medium to display her fascination with the "perfect wave" (she also happens to be an avid surfer).

Pretty cool, huh?

By the way, this is the 2nd time I'm referencing Hokusai on this blog (see 1st mention here). It's all building up to an OFFICIAL Hokusai post. Consider this just one long drumroll.

In the meantime read more about his life and work here.

SUPERSIZE ME

Designed by Kayla Kromer, the Hamburger Bed comes with a duvet cover (the sesame seed bun) and pillows in the shapes of tomatoes and pickles.

Disturbingly delicious!

I wonder if they have "sliders" for the kiddies?

Read more here.