Hey New Yorkers, f your morning coffee could talk, it would probably have a very specific accent — and now it might even come with its own neighborhood storyline. NewYorkPrideGoodshas released a collection of NYC Toile coffee mugs that turn your daily caffeine fix into a mini tour of the five boroughs.
At first glance, these mugs lean classic — traditional toile patterns in blue, red, and green. But look closer and the pastoral scenes you’d expect are swapped out for something much more local: New York City streetscapes, neighborhood landmarks, and those hyper-specific details that make each corner of the city feel like its own world. Continue reading Eye On Design: NYC Toile Mugs By New York Pride Goods→
A representative figure associated with Lyrical Abstraction in Paris, Georges Mathieu (1921 – 2012) adopted a gestural abstract style distinguished by his predominant use of calligraphic signs and unusually rapid mode of painting. In Black and White Abstract (La mort de la Reine Edith) (1957) the entangled swirling lines were applied directly onto the surface of the canvas from a paint tube. The artist’s sprouting, rhythmic, scribble-like marks sometimes interlace with larger brush strokes. From the early 1950s, Mathieu began to make art before large public audiences, documenting his performative actions through photography and film.
Abstract, geometric representations of colorful flowers from the rose and carnation families exemplify an interest in floral and decorative patterns in Beatriz Milhazes’ painting, The Carnation and The Rose (2000). The large circular flower in the background is inspired by the delicate lacelike designs of crochet cloths she saw in her grandmother’s home as a child. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: The Carnation and The Rose By Beatriz Milhazes→
Writing about Alex Katz’s work, Frank O’Hara identified his wife Ada’s complex role in her husbands iconography: “the heads and figures of Ada give this beautiful woman, through his interest in schema, a role as abstract as that of Helen of Troy; she is a presence and at the same time a pictorial conceit of style.”
Ellsworth Kelly’s Colors for a Large Wall, with Fan, at MoMA (All Photos By Gail)
Confession: I am obsessive about taking photographs of art that includes no people in the frame. To achieve this goal requires great patience. There is no telling how long you will need to wait for one or more endlessly dawdling, selfie-snapping, oblivious art fans to GTF out of your way so you can get the shot. It is a character-builder, for sure. Continue reading More Spy Pics of People Looking at Art→
