All Photos By Gail
While the streamlined curves of Gloria Cortina’s Black Hawk Console (2016) reference the design aesthetic of modern French opulence and glamour popular in the 20th century, Black Hawk serves as an homage to the perception of luxury in the Aztec empire.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Black Hawk Console By Gloria Cortina
Photos By Gail
When Pantone teamed up with Instagram to promote their 2016 Color of the Year (which, in that year, was actually two colors: Rose Quartz and Serenity), they chose muralist WERC (@W3RC) to represent NYC with this depiction of a man wearing an Armadillo as a Helmet, or something like that. Read the full story behind this mural, and the global ad campaign of which it was a part, This Link.
Photographed at the Southwest Corner of 10th Avenue and 50th Street in Hell’s Kitchen NYC.
All Photos By Gail
Christian Siriano designed this dress for actress Leslie Jones to wear to a film premiere. Jones had tweeted that due to her physique, no fashion designer was willing to dress her for red carpet events. Siriano responded to her, saying he would be proud to design a dress for her.
The result was this stunning Red Silk Crepe Faille floor-length gown that she wore to the 2016 premiere of Ghostbusters, and Jones looks fantastic in it. This situation sparked a public debate about the marginalization of certain body types by contemporary brands.
Photographed as Part of the Exhibit The Body: Fashion and Physique, On View at the Museum at FIT Through May 5th, 2018.
Photo By Gail
In Aïda Muluneh’s photograph All In One (2016), a single figure embodies multiplicity through the addition of extra hands of different hues. Muluneh’s use of colorful makeup is inspired by body art from across Africa and allows her to physically construct a character out of her model. After living around the world, Muluneh (b. 1974) returned to her homeland of Ethiopia, where she founded the Addis Foto Fest, the first international festival in Africa. Though she was born in Ethiopia, she has sometimes felt like a outsider due to many years spent elsewhere. Her photographs, such as this one, bear the influence of that complicated experience, and are drawn from her series The World is 9, which is named after a saying of her Grandmother’s: “The World is nine; it is never complete and it’s never perfect.” With this series, the artist also recognizes the capacity of photography to convey the multiplicity inherent in any individual.
Photographed as part of the Exhibit Being: New Photography, Up Through August 19th, 2018 at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.
Photo By Gail
I passed by this enigmatic mural, located on the north side of 2nd Street, just west of First Avenue, (right next to Julie’s Vintage) while on the way to meet Geoffrey for lunch. Part Eagle, part, Eyeball and part Fish, this work of street art really has everything! The artist’s signature is visible in the lower, right corner of the above image, but I am unable to decipher it or find him or her via a search for “Jonac” — which is what the signature appears to say. Any clues on the artist’s identity, please leave it in the comments – thanks!
Note: The artist has been correctly identified as Lonac in the comments below, many thanks!!