Tag Archives: mondrian

Eye On Design: Hullabaloo Mondrian-Inspired Hi Brows Boots

Hullabaloo Mondrian Inspired Hi Brow Boots
All Photos By Gail

These extremely rare, retro-vintage Hi Brows Boots were worn by one of the GoGo dancers on the 60s-era TV show, Hullabaloo. Made of white vinyl with red and blue vinyl panels and black vinyl piping, the red and blue color block design was inspired by the non-representational paintings of Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian. They are low heeled and below the calf in height, with a back metal zipper at the back. Why these boots originally sold for just a few dollars per pair, they can now fetch as much as $700 or $800 on eBay.

Hullabaloo Mondrian Inspired Hi Brow Boots

Hullabaloo was a Pop Rock weekly variety show that ran from 1965 to 1966 (two seasons), NS was broadcast on the NBC network. As with ABC TVs Shindig, which began 4 months earlier, this series combined the musical trends of the day, The British Invasion, Detroit’s Motown sound and the merging Folk Rock trend. Unlike Shindig, this series featured a segment from Great Britain hosted by The Beatles‘ manager Brian Epstein, who presented “up and coming” groups. The weekly hosts, at NBC ‘s Burbank studio, included George Hamilton, Roger Smith, Noel Harrison, Paul Anka and Sammy Davis Jr.

Hullabaloo Mondrian Inspired Hi Brow Boots

The performers, from both sides of the Atlantic, included The Four Seasons, The Beatles, Nancy Sinatra, Gary Lewis and The Playboys, Petula Clark, Barry McGuire, The Kinks, Herman’s Hermits, The Byrds and The Lovin’ Spoonful.

Photographed in the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, NY.

Eye On Design: YSL Color Block Couture Dress Circa 1965

YSL Couture Color Block Dress
Photos By Gail

Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 1965 collection was inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian. While it became one of Saint Laurent’s most famous collections, other designers had introduced similar designs before him. The Montreal Gazette claimed that color-blocked dresses by Michele Roiser had inspired Saint Laurent to “add a few black lines” to his own creations.

Installation View

YSL dress seen here with a color block design by Lousi Feraud (circa 1967) on the left.

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Don Gummer Sculptures on Broadway!

Don Gummer Mondrian
Don Gummer, Mondrian (All Photos By Gail)

His wife, Meryl Streep, may be one of the world’s most famous actresses, but American sculptor Don Gummer is taking his turn on Broadway right now, in the form of a major exhibition of his large-scale sculptures. Don Gummer on Broadway, the artist’s first outdoor public art exhibition in New York City, features nine aluminum and stainless steel sculptures placed along the Broadway malls, adjacent to subway stops, from Columbus Circle (8th Avenue at 59th Street) to 157th St.

Continue reading Don Gummer Sculptures on Broadway!

Tom Fruin’s Color Study at Mike Weiss Gallery

Tom Fruin Water Tower
Watertower By Tom Fruin (All Photos By Gail)

Oh, what fun it was to discover one of Tom Fruin’s  Watertower sculptures inside an art gallery instead of out in DUMBO or somewhere off the BQE! As it turns out, Fruin’s current exhibit, Color Study, over at Mike Weiss Gallery marks the very first time that the artist’s architecturally-scaled public works have been shown in a gallery context. Super fun!

Tom Fruin Water Tower Detail
Watertower Close Up

The Watertower is constructed from found scrap metal and colored Plexiglas in a patchwork design that also incorporates facsimiles of cigar bands and the word “Ecstasy” repeated at intervals across it’s colorful and endlessly captivating surface, which is illuminated from the tower’s interior.

Tom Fruin Water Tower Ecstasy Detail

Tom Fruin Cigar Band Wall Scultpture

The wall sculpture above (of which there are several on display at Mike Weiss) will give you an idea of the grid that Fruin builds on for his colored Plexiglas creations. Check out the one below:

Tom Fruin Wall Quilt

This patchwork of colors relates not only to the surface of the Watertower but also to Fruin’s earlier project series, Drug-Bag Quilts, in which the artist used found drug bags, stitched together with thread, to create quilt-like wall hangings. Talk about an interesting way to upcycle!

Tom Fruin Lanterns

Color Study also includes a set of Swings with Cigar Band Seats which are suspended from the gallery’s ceiling (not shown) and the above lanterns, one electric and one powered by a small fuel tank.

Stained Glass Flame Sculpture

And last but not least, Fruin has created this illuminated-from-within, Stained Glass replica of what looks to me like the cluster of flame from Lady Liberty’s torch. Astounding.

Stained Glass Flame Detail
Stained Glass Flame Detail

Color Study presents enchanting and unique artworks the likes of which you aren’t going to see anywhere else in the Chelsea Gallery District, so don’t let yourself miss this one!

Tom Fruin’s Color Study will be on Exhibit Through October 18th, 2014 at Mike Weiss Gallery, Located at 520 West 24th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District.

Mondrian Storage Bins

Mondrian Storage Bins
Photo By Gail

Piet Mondrian-Inspired Storage Bins Spotted at The Container Store on 6th Avenue and 19th Street. Artsy!