RIP AMcQ

When I decided to start this blog, I wanted to make a conscious effort to avoid discussing fashion. I love clothes (what girl doesn't, really?), but to comment on it would imply that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the crazy world we know as fashion. The fact is, I really don't. I like what I like, and sometimes that means polyester and scuffed boots.

But every once in a while, the line between art and fashion blurs to the point that I feel like I must say something.

Alexander McQueen died today. 

No more umbrella hats. No more amazingly amorphic platform heels. He was an intensely creative spirit, that designed not just fashion, but wearable art. To call him an innovator is an understatement. 

I chose to highlight some pieces from his hat collection that are simply divine. I could come up with a million different ways to describe that breathtaking butterfly hat at the top. But no words could do it justice really.

See some of his collections dating from the present back 

to 2001, here.

My friend, Xiomara, sent this to me today...and I couldn't not share it.

Punxsutawney Phil is not on my good side these days.

TADANORI YOKOO

I first discovered Tadanori's work about 7 years ago, and was recently reminded of how INCREDIBLY powerful his work is. I stumbled upon the image at the very top of this post, in a narrow, dark hallway at PS1. This poster totally deserves better placement (shame on you PS1!). In any case, I found myself enraptured, once again, by his lovely, lovely work. The combination of photographic elements, illustration, sumptuous colors, play on scale and the humorous, thought-provoking stories that his compositions seem to tell...all result in an complete and utter inability to look away. 

I can literally stare at a poster for an hour, take a break and return only to find an element that I hadn't noticed the first time around. It's like a crazy psychedelic easter egg hunt.

See more from Yokoo here. I promise, promise, promise you'll fall in love with him too.

And click here for some of his music and film posters....yum! I'm CRRRRRRAAAAZZZY over that Beatles Star Club one! (Thanks Pink Tentacle!)

...exactly.

See more from Jon Contino, hand drawn letterer, here.

KLAUS HAAPANIEMI

I treated myself today. 

MoMA had an Art Book Swap, where I was able to score FOURTEEN NEW ART BOOKS. Well, not actually new...but new to me. :) The deal is that if you bring a book, you get a book. There are piles upon piles to choose from and if you have the patience, its totally worth the hunt. 

The event happens several times a year, in various locations across the US – this was the first one held in NY. To top it all off, I was actually rewarded for being lethargic on this cold, snowy day. I came an hour before it closed, and the deal became 2-for-1. So, I brought seven and walked away with fourteen! Woot woot.

One of the books I came across was by a Finnish illustrator named Klaus Haapaniemi, called Monsters. I instantly fell in lust. It turns out that he's with Big Active, a super-cool design and art collective based in the UK (they're one of my favorites). 

Above are examples of his work, outside of Monsters. See more from the book here.

KOTO + VENUS

What happens when an fashion photographer shoots an athlete?

These images have a way of catapulting me into a different solar system...somewhere into the past...or maybe into the future. Venus, through Koto's eyes, seems to be some other-wordly muse.

See more of Koto Bolofo's work here.

Buy the book, Venus, here.

(click to enlarge)

BottScarry / Scott Barry

This Must Be The Place by BottScarry

(From "The Big Three" @ Michael Rosenthal Gallery,

San Francisco, 2009)

Well, I have nothing to say about this really. Except that I can't seem to avert my eyes from that banana face.

See more here.