Tag Archives: 1977

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: John Baeder, Stardust Motel

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stardust motel by john baeder photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

John Baeder’s Stardust Motel (1977), is a crisp, sunlit portrait of American roadside culture at its most iconic. Known for his photorealist paintings of diners, gas stations, and motels, Baeder treats the Stardust not as nostalgia-soaked ruin, but as a proud, functioning emblem of mid-century optimism. The signage is clean, declarative, and bold, the sky impossibly blue —everything rendered with the precision of a memory you’re not quite sure you actually lived.
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Design and Innovation

Eye On Design: Freddie Mercury’s Silver Sequined Catsuit

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freddie mercury silver catsuit photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail Except Where Noted

There’s a saying that being older (i.e. Baby Boomer generation) carries perks such as living at a time that allowed you to see all of the really cool bands in concert. I’ll own it. I have many priceless concert memories from the 1970s — like seeing The Who when the ticket price was $12! For me though, the real coupe was seeing Queen live in concert on each of the Night at The Opera, Day at The Races, and News of The World tours, and twice when they toured in support of their 1978 release, Jazz.  For this then-teenage Queen fan, my fervent ardor for Freddie Mercury and company moved beyond ‘favorite band’ status to being more like a religion, or a way of life. I wouldn’t trade that time in my life of anything.

Continue reading Eye On Design: Freddie Mercury’s Silver Sequined Catsuit →

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Wayne Thiebaud, Candy Ball Machine

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Candy Ball Machine
Photo By Gail

Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920) is an American painter widely known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects — pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs — as well as for his landscapes and figure paintings. In his defense of common objects as being suitable for painting, as seen with Candy Ball Machine (1977), Thiebaud often mentions the gumball machine.  “A gumball machine can be a kind of icon, with its simple beauty, its colors, its relationship, its magic — we put in a penny and out comes a brightly colored gumball or prize. It is  a glorious toy which we adults miss the wonder of.”

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit, Wayne Thiebaud, Draftsman, Which is on View at The Morgan Library in NYC Through September 23rd, 2018.

Music, Pop Culture

Pink Thing of the Day: David Bowie Quote on Book Spines

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David Bowie Quote on Book Spines
Photo By Gail

This quote by the late great David Bowie — “Tomorrow Belongs to Those Who Can Hear it Coming” — gets a vibrant new life when printed on the spines of horizontally stacked book that have been wrapped in pink paper or vinyl. According to this source, “Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming” was the slogan David Bowie coined to promote Heroes, the second installment of his great Berlin album trilogy. It neatly captures one of his most important talents: to intuit the future and draw it forward into the popular culture of the present. Continue reading Pink Thing of the Day: David Bowie Quote on Book Spines →

Arts and Culture

Undulating Column Sculpture in Soho

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Undulating Column
All Photos By Gail

This minimalist sculpture is (approximately) located in front of 102 Greene Street in Soho, NYC.

Undulating Column Detail

It appears be made of brushed aluminum, but who knows.

Undulating Column Plaque

This plaque, attached to the building in front of which it sits, identifies the piece as Undulating Column (1977) by artist Hans Van de Bovenkamp.