LIPSTiCK TrACeZ

(text courtesy of Julie V. Iovine) British architect John Pawson was in town recently, conferring with a client about their new apartment in one of Richard Meier's Perry Street towers and supporting another whose film was premiering at the Museum of Modern Art. He took time out for a coffee to talk about the upcoming show of his work at the London Design Museum opening on September 22, as well as his new home for the museum--announced last month--within the repurposed Commonwealth Institute, aka the Parabola Building, a swoopy 1962 white elephant designed by RMJM in West London. (Also going on the site is a controversial Rem Koolhaas-designed apartment building.)

Pawson. (JVIovine)

Pawson beat out a list that included British familiars David Chipperfield, Haworth Tompkins, Caruso St. John Architects, Stanton Williams, Tony Fretton, and the Dutch firm Claus En Kaan Architecten. Director Deyan Sudjic, the author of several books on Pawson and a close friend (the architecture circle in the UK is pretty small and tight) said that in choosing Pawson he was sure to have an architect "who will bring out the best of this remarkable building."

Pawson has been given the job of transforming the "Parabola Building" into the new home of the London Design Museum. (Courtesy LDM)

From Pawson's description, the show Plain Space promises to be an architect's architecture show that's not academic, focusing on materials--no surprise considering the man favors four-inch-thick marble slabs for his kitchen counter and 45-foot single-plank floorboards in the parlor--and process. Plain Space will avoid show and tell through models and pre-occupancy photography in favor of a more immersive experience. "At my age, I had to ask myself, Why an exhibition now?" said Pawson. "Ten years ago, the reasons would have been more obvious, now it's more like, What's the point? For me, the answer was to make it something people will learn from, to make it something about space, to make it feel like you are walking into architecture, and to make it get across how architecture gets done."

The Novy Dvur Monastery. (Richard Davies)

Sculpture, bear, wolf with a blowout? Who knows or cares, it's cool.

I just watched Gomorrah, which is an amazingly brutal film about the Neopolitan Mafia  called the Camorra.  Can u say badly dressed mobster?  Wow, I now know where all that extra Christian Audigier and Fubu  is going.  Basically, they make the Sopranos look like a bunch of  Pansies.   No fancy mcMansions here, just disgusting slums.   Reminded me of City of God.

The film came out in 2008 and was directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the book by Roberto Saviano.    It's totally low budget and shot in a cinema verite' style.  I loved the pace and saturation,  so harsh and real.      It was nominated for a Golden Globe and won 23 other international film awards and  was made for 6 mill and grossed 34 so I guess it was a huge success.   Two thumbs up- you can get it on Netflix.

Back in the day arms dealer and all around rich sketchy art lover Adnan Khashoggi was the king of bling.    Hookers came and went, nations were destroyed and Texas interior "artist" Michael Reese designed  insane private jets.

It doesn't get any cooler.   Steve McQueen is my style icon for men's styling every time. I love this William Klein photo with Peggy Moffit.

Tokyo from my taxi

I'm on Martha's Vineyard right now and I just love all the farms.   Fresh eggs every morning, tomatoes and home cooked pies.  You know us city folk really appreciate, the goats are really cute and friendly.

Philippe Petit was a true radical.  An artist.  He still looks great!  

I'm having a blast in Martha's Vineyard right now visiting friends.   The farms and Farmers Market here are amazing.

Thanks for the inspiration Darby Crash.

I never stopped loving polaroid.  Back in the day Robert Mapplethorpe was one of their first photographers to be sponsored-how cool is that? 

The Highland media corridor just got more fashionable.    A few steps away from the D Pet Hotels and across the street from AMMO is the new James Perse store.     A beautifully curated retail experience.   Influential stores should snap up any extra space available.   This strip is going to the bomb in about a year.    All images by Jorge Oswaldo.

Riders/TEAM:


Lester Kasai
Darren Navarrette
Rob Lorifice
Kevin StaabMax
DuFourAdrian Demain
Al Partanen
Josh Nelson
Billy Roha
nNolan Johnso
nCurren Caples
Clyde Singleton
Eric Dressen


link:
http://s-one.com

Cool helmets for kids by S One Helmet Company

While in Tokyo I went to Chinzanzo gardens for a traditional BBQ lunch cooked on a Lava rock.    Unfortunately, the food was a bit bland, but the gardens and Pagoda were spectacular.   It rained for a few minutes and cleared the air which was a nice break from the heat.

Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin retrospective at Foam Museum Amsterdam
starts Aug. 19

I love German artist Cristoph Steinmeyer's Disco Inferno edition

They have toured with No Doubt, won Pop Album of the year, make mellow grooves and  happen to be very down to earth enlightened guys.   Based in Canada and currently on their way to China and Australia on tour.   I caught up with Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Sekou Lumumba from Bedouin Soundclash at the US Open and we had a chat before their set.

http://www.bedouinsoundclash.com/splash/

R:  How did you guys meet and start making music together?

J: we came together at different times.   Eon and I met each other 10 years ago,  Sekou joined us about 6 months ago.

R: Did that inject a lot of new energy into your process in terms of how you write lyrics, and create melodies?

E: Yes, for sure.   Different  musicians totally affect the way you get inspired.   With Sekou on board, as a three piece that energy is totally different.

R: Your sound is reggae pop.   Were you all into similar music growing up?

S: A lot of different  influences:  Reggae was very strong, we all pull from that.   Eon being a DJ he brings a lot of that into it.   I love Bad Brains and Fishbone.   But reggae is main base.

R: Favorite song growing up?  Anything special speak to you as  a kid?

E:   I loved the song "Pass the Dutchie"  by Musical Youth.  My family keeps reminding me about it, I'll never live that down.    I was super inspired by it as a kid and also loved to see kids playing music that I liked.   It had a profound effect on the path I decided to take, although I didn't realize it then.

R: What is harmony, not in a literal sense, but in your life, how do you balance touring, business, writing, family and just being at peace?

J: Karl Lagerfeld said, just waking up and life,  for me, to just be present in the moment is enough.   Lagerfeld called it a lightness.  Living well and not being weighed down.

E: Communication and understanding.   Sharing with a person, a song, the environment. I think  feeling that connection is incredible.  Being in that moment.  It is a very special thing.

R: A very profound answer, I love that.   What is a perfect day for you?

S: That is a tough one, when  you wake up and everything falls into place.  Even with this show, we didn't know what to expect but we rolled up, the sun came out and  the crowds started embracing us.   Stuff like that puts me in a great mood, a happy place.



R: What are some of your favorite places to travel and do you have an experience there that you want to share, a way that you connected with the local culture?

J: I love Japan.   It always has a profound impact on our band.   Good or bad, something always happens in Japan.   I think because it is so isolating.   The language barrier enhances that.

R: A bit of that " lost in translation" element?

J: Yes, for sure.   Favorite places, London and The UK is one of my favorites too.   To them music is live or die.   Its not just background, I am who I am because of who I listen too, they love music.   I love Australia too.

R: Similar vibe to this show at the US Open right, surf culture, good vibes?

J: Yeah

R: Is the creative process a gift or can you learn to be creative, it is a journey ?

E: Not creativity in general , but the ability to express it in a universal way is a gift.
Interview and photos by: Reggie Casagrande
reggieworld.com

 Terrorizing the Tri-state area retailers in the early 90's the Lo-lifes created their own style and culture.  Who knew that a Teddy Bear and obsession with a mainstream fashion brand (RL) would fuel gangs, and the Lo Lifes to kill for clothes.  "White suits and matchin boots".  'll be psyched if they make a movie. Jay Z and Fab 5 Freddy are expressing interest.


text courtesy of Rus Azal blog
rusazal.com

About 2 decades ago history was made when 2 boosting clicks from Brooklyn NYC; one hailing from Brownsville (U.S.A aka united shoplifters association) the other from Crown Heights (Ralphies Kids) would join together to form one click...... The Lo-Lifes (Lo being short for Polo) the Lo-lifes revolutionized urban street fashion and we're the poster children of "fresh to death." Meshing 5th ave style with urban lifestyle, much is accredited to these modern day metropolitan Robin Hoods who terrorized department stores through out the Tri-state on a daily basis in pursuit of Polo by Ralph Lauren goods and other pricey notable designers. The Lo-lifes have been highly regarded with accolades and respect from a majority of hip-hop's elite for their contribution to the hip-hop urban lifestyle and fashion. Rumors of a Movie deal has been floating around the industry which has caught the interest of Fab Five Freddy and Jay-Z.











 

I took my nine year old daughter thinking it would be fun to see a pop show with her.   A coming of age.   She loves all the Gaga videos, and although a bit racy, I'm thinking oh, its only pop music.   I had Madonna and Pat Benatar right?   Wrong.

  We got there and her warm up band "Semi Precious Weapons" was playing.  Wow, they suck.    In between humping the stage and showcasing his fabulous silver glam boots the self absorbed lead singer kept screaming, "I can't pay my rent, but I'm fucking gorgeous" FUCKERS!!!.   OVER AND OVER AGAIN.    Was this a joke band?    

Well, honey, you are broke cause you can't carry a tune and your music stinks.   GO back to being a stylist.   His outfit was good.

Gaga came on in a spectacular outfit with a great stage show.    Monster Ball was a cross between Escape from New York and the Wizard of Oz.     A steaming Rolls Royce, drag queens in boots, dancers half naked.     This I expected.    Unfortunately, I didn't expect to be called a BITCH, SLUT AND HEAR FUCKING THIS AND FUCKING THAT in between every set or I HOPE "YOU ALL GET LAID TONIGHT".    I get the call to the "little monsters" or community of fans made up from club kids, drag queens, transgenders,  metalheads and "free thinkers".   But hey, lets push equality and freedom, not the lowest common denominator to these kids.     Most of my cool, progressive gay friends whom I consider "free thinkers" were offended.   I was just sad for women.    What happened to impressing with music.   Is a public display of dancer masturbation at a youth concert really necessary? 

If the little monsters as you call them ever have a chance at a career, gay marriage, or  acceptance into mainstream society, the last thing they need to think is that saying "fuck you bitches and sluts" is good for equality and human rights.  Not to go all feminist here, but that was disappointing.

Maybe Gaga should focus a little more on writing catchy pop tunes and power ballads  and less on promoting Virgin Mobile and her fans sex lives.   I kind of thought she was going to out pop Madonna, but she has a long way to go.   The best thing in the show was the amazing video projections of Gaga dancing and eating a bloody heart.   Stick to videos GAGA, with Nick Knight and Jonas Ackerlund you can make anything look amazing.

Frida rocks.

One of my favorite studio fashion photographers is Greg Kadel

Doggie by Kat von D.    Love the Vans.

Mr. Nick Knight collabs with the queen of pop, the pics are amazing.    HOT.  The amazing rock journalist Lisa Robinson interviews.  

Met Joel Knoernschild the designer and creative director of KZO and Creative Growth for Everybody.    He rolled in on a bad ass Bianchi with a leopard seat so I knew he had mad style.   When I started chatting with him he told me a little about his projects.      Check him out.


 Project Overview:
Creative Growth for Everybody is a collaborative project launched by Creative Growth, The News and The Kneornschild family. The objective of the project is to provide the artists at Creative Growth the opportunity to showcase and distribute their works to a broader audience, particularly to the fashion industry.
The first series of Creative Growth for Everybody consists of 15 artworks printed on men's and women's cotton T-shirts and T-shirt dresses. (The tees are made in USA). It will be launched for Spring 10, sales beginning in July 09 and to be shipped to stores in late October. It will feature the artworks of Olga Bielman, Dan Miller, Donald Mitchell, Aurie Ramirez, Dwight Mackintosh, William Scott, Kerry Damianakes, William Tyler and Gerone Spruili.
Creative Growth for Everybody is a long-term collaborative effort that will continually inspire, excite and open eyes---in the way great art does.

About Creative Growth:
Creative Growth is the oldest and largest nonprofit visual art center in the country, providing arts programs to adults with developmental, physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Creative Growth provides a stimulating environment for artistic instruction, gallery promotion and personal expression. The more than 120 adults enrolled in the program create imaginative, beautiful, and finely crafted works, and receive proceeds from their sale.
Artwork fostered in this unique environment is included in prominent collections and museums worldwide.


The News Inc:
The News Inc was founded by Stella Ishii in 2000. The showroom is well recognized for its modern, practical approach to fashion, and its family of individualistic, forward-thinking emerging designers. Prior to launching The News, Stella was the President of Staff USA which was established in 1994. During that time, the showroom and gallery spaces showcased several exhibitions including shows for Creative Growth and the Creative Growth artists.


The Knoernschilds:
Joe and Cindy Knoernschild were the original founding partners of Billabong USA in 1983. They parted ways with Billabong in 1999 to create Hurley International. Joe was Hurley's International Director; responsible for expanding the company's vision in Japan, Europe and Australia. After retiring in 2004, Joe was on the faculty at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising from 2005-2007. In 2007, Joe and Cindy helped their son Joel launch men's wear line KZO.
The Knoernschild's were introduced to Creative Growth by Stella Ishii in 2009. Being avid supporters of the arts, the family immediately decided to help execute upon the Creative Growth vision, providing their resources and passions to this collaborative project.

By PAMELA PAUL for the New York Times

GIVEN that most young people would prefer to be older and most old people yearn to be young, coming up with a new in-between life stage is an inherently thankless task. Many would be all too glad to be rid of dicey concepts like "tweens" and "adultescents."
But Stephanie Dolgoff, the author of a new book, "My Formerly Hot Life: Dispatches From Just the Other Side of Young" (Ballantine Books), is undaunted. According to Ms. Dolgoff, women in their late 30s and early 40s fall into a "new category of person: adult 'tweens, not quite middle-aged, but no longer our reckless, restless, gravity-defying selves." Their new moniker: Formerlies, as in formerly hot.
"It's obviously self-mocking," Ms. Dolgoff said. "I was no supermodel to begin with." Instead, she was a born-and-bred New York cool girl: raised on the Upper West Side, high school at Bronx Science, college at Wesleyan, followed by glittery jobs at women's magazines, including Self, Glamour and YM. She resembles an earthbound cross between two Julias -- Roberts and Louis-Dreyfus -- not a terrible combination, with one floral tattoo on an ankle and another atop her shoulder.
This being the aughties, what started as a joke with a colleague at Self blossomed into a Web site, Formerlyhot.com, in 2008. Within two posts on her blog, which now attracts 30,000 visitors a month, Ms. Dolgoff said, five agents got in touch, and a book idea was born. Later this month, Ms. Dolgoff, who lives with her husband and twin 7-year-old girls on the Lower East Side, is to appear on the "Today" show.
But what to wear on a book tour, assuming you're not among the 20-under-40 set? Ms. Dolgoff's closet -- a narrow but deep space whose door will not close -- presents a compact illustration of Formerly aesthetic and sartorial challenges. A trail of shoes, overflowing from an over-the-door organizer, leads ominously across the floor. Silver boots from Sacco ("They make a comfort line") teeter next to a pair of red cowboy boots. And while they lack Paltrow-height heels, Ms. Dolgoff's flashy gold clogs do not read mid-motherhood. "I do go a little overboard on the shoes," she confessed. "But there's no room in your closet for self-recrimination at this age."
THE closet was ground zero for Ms. Dolgoff's "crisis of fashion," the moment several years ago when she realized her clothes weren't working: She had put on a leather skirt from Diesel purchased five years earlier, and, she recounted: "I couldn't tell if I looked like downtown rocker girl or like I was upholstered in Jennifer leather. It didn't quite feel right, but I wasn't ready to get rid of it."
Ms. Dolgoff has since cleared her closet of its leading offenders. "Trends are for little kids," she said dismissively. "You can easily go from expressing certain aspects of yourself to looking like you're in a Halloween costume."
Shopping for clothes in the uncharted netherworld between Forever 21 and Eileen Fisher can be a travail. But, she said, "You don't have to stick to jewel-toned twin sets or shop at Talbot's just because you've hit 40." A self-described "big shopper," Ms. Dolgoff has turned to the Web for dalliances: membership sites like Rue La La, Gilt Groupe and Ideeli are favorites.
And while she is susceptible to flowing blouses and skimpy dresses that cling in certain permissible places, she has a keen sense of bad ideas. Animal prints are O.K. at 20 or 60, but for 40-somethings, they raise all kinds of unseemly "cougar" questions. Nor should a 40-year-old go too far into Day-Glo. "What makes retro look cute is the discrepancy between the person's age and the era it came from," she said. "If you were alive during the time the look was first in vogue, it can look as if you've saved your outfit for all these years."
No matter how poorly you pull off the '80s revival ("plaid skirts with safety pins are probably not a good idea"), Formerlyhood also has benefits: professional, parental and, generally, interpersonal.
On the plus side: no longer having to keep up with the latest restaurant and bars. Formerlies, typically mothers of young children, haven't the time or energy to go. And your friends won't care. Women this age tend to be a lot more forgiving than they were as high school BFF's and college roommates. In any case, Formerlies, Ms. Dolgoff explained, are more comfortable in their own skin and no longer depend on other peoples' judgments. You no longer have to be annoyed at being ogled by strange men on the street.
Then again, you no longer are ogled by strange men on the street. In her book, Ms. Dolgoff recalls a morning commute in which an attractive man asked her the time. "Eight-forty," she replied tersely. And then, nothing. No longer the sexy young thing who had to adopt "a slightly defensive posture when men asked her superficially innocent questions on public transportation. I was no longer 'all that,' perhaps no longer even a little of 'that,' whatever 'that' is."
So what happens when you're no longer a Formerly? Are you just plain old? "I'm not there yet," Ms. Dolgoff said. "But I think the next stage is taking the best part of being a Formerly -- focusing on your own happiness rather than fitting into someone else's version of womanhood -- and running with it." Meanwhile, her greatest challenge is shoes. "You do need to be able walk. I'm done sacrificing to look good. I don't want to hurt anymore."

One of the greatest  celluloid characters ever is Snake Plissken.  I know, I have the doll on my bookshelf.   Got back into it again after watching Escape from New York for the first time in 10 years.  How can you beat Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes  and Adrienne Barbeau (or "boob-bow" which is what they called her when I was in school) for an epic film?   Kurt Russell rocks the camouflage trend, albeit a janky camou, and kicked ass with a bum leg. I'm sure some fool out there got a giant cobra tattoo on their abs in homage.  Love.

Kids at US Open

Had a blast shooting all the "kids" (anyone under 25) in OC for the US Surf open.    There was a lot of posturing and tongue wagging which was really fun and funny at the same time. Tattoos, mohawks, sunglasses, neon, jewelry, skateboards, cellphones, and surfboards were de rigueur.   One thing they all had in common besides having a great time was a great sense of style.

August 15 - 21, 2010
Opening Reception: Sunday, August 15, 2010, 6 - 9PM
Steve Turner Contemporary is pleased to present WET PAINT 2: Nine Young LA Artists, a one week exhibition featuring recently created works by talented local artists. These artists -- Michael Carter, Patricia Fernandez, Matthias Merkel-Hess, Nicole Miller, Jesse Mockrin, Joshua Nathanson, Sean Sullivan, Brendan Threadgill and Cody Trepte--will present work in a range of media include video, drawing, photography, sculpture and painting. The process of selection began immediately following last year's inaugural edition of WET Paint, and during the course of the last year, over two hundred and fifty artists were considered.

WET PAINT 2 will be on view with extended hours (11 to 9), from Sunday, August 15 through Saturday, August 21, 2010 with the opening reception on Sunday, August 15, between 6 and 9. The exhibition may also be viewed by chance or appointment from Monday, August 9, through Saturday, August 14. There will be two artist talks each night during the run of the show.

Steve Turner Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in Los Angeles that represents the work of emerging and established contemporary artists. Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11- 6. Please contact the gallery for further information.

Contact: Steve Turner, steve@steveturnercontemporary.com, 323.931.3721

Found these cool cats at Yoyogi Park in Harajuko.  So fun to watch them dance around.

Article by Emma Allen for Art Info.

NEW YORK-- Maximilian Le Cain once wrote that for experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger, cinema "is an evil force" that can be used to "exert control over people and events." His filmmaking, she said, "is carried out with precisely that intention." Perhaps this is why Italian fashion house Missoni has hired the legendary octogenarian artist to create a video promoting their fall collection, hoping that the "Scorpio Rising" director's magick will hypnotize a horde of buyers into wearing the company's signature prints this upcoming season.

And hypnotize it may. The film, shot in Anger's psychedelic, overlay-heavy style, captures 11 members of the Missoni family as they disport against a black background and occasionally in in a pastoral setting, done up in wigs and looking somewhat bewildered. The film has a distinctly cultish atmosphere, recalling the mystical goings-on in the artist's previous films, from "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" (1954) to "Scorpio Rising" (1963) and "Lucifer Rising" (1970-81) -- the last of which features a soundtrack that Bobby Beausoleil, a murderer involved with the Manson Family, recorded in prison. This association gives the ad an unusual creepiness, and the blending of the cult of high fashion with evocations of actual cults brings to mind Joan Didion's "White Album" description of the time she shopped for a dress for Linda Kasabian to wear to the Manson murder trial.

With its spooky soundtrack by Koudlam and "Twin Peaks"-ian imagery, this campaign is notably discrete from Missoni's past artist-collaborations. The photographs that Ryan McGinley made for the house in 2009 -- of attractive, sun-dappled models, beautifully-garbed and perched atop moving pick-up trucks (a riff on the artist's 2004 image "Dakota Hair") -- are far cheerier. And while Juergen Teller's 2010 portfolio relies heavily on Richard Billingham's moving family photos of his obese mother and alcoholic father in "Ray's a Laugh," the glamorous Missonis, not surprisingly, look far more carefree, lounging at home, surrounded by and wearing their own designs.

Muscle cars, gold, Biarritz and the luxe casual style of LA are all inspirations for Designer Jerome Mage's new company March la.b    Photographer Dimitri Coste shot a gorgeous mood book for them.    Here is the video featuring his insane green Shelby Mustang

     

March LA.B

MARCH: For the symbolism of the month, for the number 3, for its 3 founders.

MARCH: For the combination of the names - Marhic, Mage, and Chatel

LA.B: For Los Angeles and Biarritz - Two cities ignoring the delineations of time and distance to create a

new transversal time zone.

Men of many passions, Jerome Mage and Alain Marhic have a clear vision and a true understanding for

accessories, their field of expertise. With the creation of March LA.B, their positioning is extremely

simple: to create product that they love.

Jerome Mage in Los Angeles, California and Alain Marhic in Biarritz, on the Cote Basque, have made

their vision reality... elegant watches for a sartorialist man; a man of character, chic and eclectic in his

taste. A neo- gentleman true to the spirit of Alain Delon, James Hunt, or Steve McQueen, functional yet

refined, the March LA.B accessories line is a tribute to these icons.

March

Alain MARHIC

A sports enthusiast and a father of four, Alain Marhic is a man who has cultivated his passions founding 2 windsurfing

academies in Brittany during the early 1990's as well as having had a successful modeling career. He joined the Quiksilver

group in 1999 working at their world headquarters Cote Basque, near Biarritz. Eventually assuming the position of Director of

Operations for the eyewear and watch divisions. With a vast business experience as well as an eye for design, fashion, and

product development, Alain developed an acute sense of brand management working for a global giant in the action sports

industry. In 2008, he made the audacious decision to leave everything behind. Driven by his passion for product he started the

March LA.B odyssey. He is its founder and CEO.

Jérôme MAGE

At 20 years old Jerome Mage left France to come to live indefinitely in Los Angeles, California where he quickly found himself in

charge of the creative direction of a major action sports eyewear company. An expert in mixing fashion and technology, he

founded his design agency in 2001. Since then, he has built a client list of devoted action sports companies such as Burton

and Quiksilver. Passionate about history, especially all things related to the French 1st Empire period, Jerome Mage is an

atypical designer. He can be seen behind the wheel of his powerful Mustangs, blasting T-Rex glam rock on the California

highways or window-shopping at the Antiquarian Louvre Market while in Paris. He is a man of contradictions and passions, a

true dirty dandy with a hint of retro-futuristic. He is the Creative Director of March LA.B.

Joseph CHATEL

MARCH LA.B Business angel. 

.

Anton Corbijn directs Rowan Joffe's screenplay on the novel by Martin Booth.    Always loved Anton's photographs.   If you have ever seen a U2 Album cover you know his work, I think he shot almost all of them.   In addition to insane photographs for Depeche Mode , Nick Cave, and Tom Waits.     I read that he is really tall, and that's why all his images have that perspective, almost like he is on a ladder.   Anton also directed one of my favorite music films, CONTROL in 2007.

In the American, he directs George (I'm never bad in anything and already have my first OSCAR) Clooney.    Crimes, assassins, romance,  ahhh, I love it.   

press summary:   Alone among assassins, Jack is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde, is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto and pursues romance with local woman Clara. But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

Craig McDean- amazing photographer/ amazing director

LAUNCH Lounge will feature Complimentary Cocktails, Wine Bar, Desserts, Music, and Hand-made appetizers by renowned chef Fred Eric.

Beer sponsored by Peroni / Grolsch, Wine selected and sponsored by Silverlake Wine, Non-alcoholic beverages sponsored by Honest Tea and Icelandic Glacial Water. Media Sponsor Monster Children Magazine.

Featuring original artwork by Mark Acetelli, Kelsey Brooks, Elow, Fumiko Amano, Carla Azar, Philippa Blair, Todd Carpenter, Victor Castillo, Lola Del Fresno, Dalek, Laurent Dareau, Michael Dotson, Gregory Euclide, Shane Guffogg, Mercedes Helnwein, Christopher Martin Hoff, Jeff Koegel, Ivo, Mel Kadel, Dean Karr, Rebecca Lowry, Siuan McGahan, Miguel Osuna, Kill Pixie (Mark Whalen), Travis Lampe, Jason Macaya, Christopher Mercier, Travis Millard, Jessica O'Dowd, Vanessa Prager, Bryan Ricci, Michael Rosenfeld, Christina Shurts, Jennifer Beedon Snow, Gretel Stevens, Jon Tarry, Miss Van, Melora Walters, Edward Walton Wilcox, and others.   

Guests will also have an opportunity to bid on specialty items in the Silent Auction, including hand signed and numbered limited-edition prints (some with starting bids as low as $100.00) - by artists Dee Dee Cheriel, Shepard Fairey, Friends With You, Camille Rose Garcia, Steven Gilmore, Mercedes Helnwein, Curtis Kulig, Samuel Lowder (FrePres), Claw Money, Mark Mothersbaugh, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Kathy Staico Schorr, Kent Williams, and others.

Paris France, Coca-Cola light set up an installation with Karl Lagerfeld.  Amazing.  Pink tie Karl dolls by Tokidoki.   

photography & bottle by Karl Lagerfeld. project Coca-Cola light France by Wolkoff et Arnodin.

SPOCK SHOOTS.   No, seriously Leonard Nimoy has been a showing photographer for over a decade.    He is also a huge collector and supporter of contemporary art.    Love him.

Article courtesy of CHARLES McGRATH  for The New York Times
Picture by: Matthew Cavanaugh for The New York Times


Leonard Nimoy asked residents of the Northampton, Mass., area to show their true selves. Behind him, left: Ira, an ad executive, and Robin, a graphic designer. More Photos »
Mr. Nimoy, who for more than 40 years was Spock, the pointy-eared, half-Vulcan science officer on the Starship Enterprise, has been an accomplished photographer for nearly that long, and his work has been collected by several museums. He has been taking pictures since he was 13, when he developed them in the family bathroom in Boston's West End, and in the early 70's he studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, with Robert Heinecken, a conceptual photographer so rigorous, Mr. Nimoy said recently, that he thought if you happened to see a body falling from the sky, you would be wrong to take a picture of it unless you were already embarked on a study of objects moving through space. Anything else was mere photojournalism.
In the mid-70's Mr. Nimoy even considered quitting acting and taking up photography full time, and now, at 79, he says he is finally finished with movies and television. "I was really done a long time ago," he said over lunch in a cafe at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art here. "But I agreed to make that last 'Star Trek' movie because I thought the Spock character hadn't had a chance for closure."
Still, though Mr. Nimoy has long been at pains to distance himself from "Star Trek" in his photographic work and his life in general -- at one point even writing a book called "I Am Not Spock" -- the Spock persona has proved to be as hard to escape as the Klingon prison planet. "The issue of crossing over from one territory to another -- it's always met with skepticism," he said.
Michael Kusek, who posed for Mr. Nimoy's most recent project, "Secret Selves," wearing borrowed dog tags, swigging from a bottle of Jim Beam and generally trying to look tough and street-wise, said of first meeting the photographer: "There he was with that voice that has been in the background culturally my whole life. I blew my cool." He added: "When I was a kid, I was always doing Spock. I can still do the eyebrow thing."
"Secret Selves," an exhibition of 26 color photographs, 11 of them life size, opens at Mass MoCA here on Saturday; it is Mr. Nimoy's first solo show at a major museum. He got the idea for it from the passage in Plato's "Symposium" speculating that humans were originally double-sided creatures, split apart by jealous gods and doomed forever to seek their lost other halves. Over a couple of very long days in 2008, he photographed 95 or so residents of nearby Northampton, Mass., who had been encouraged to reveal their hidden natures any way they chose.
In a foreword to the catalog (which includes 62 more photographs and a DVD documenting the shoot), Joseph C. Thompson, the director of Mass MoCA, writes, a little loftily, that despite a "haunting overabundance of id," the photographs remind him of "caryatids -- columns that cross-dress as figural sculpture."
He adds: "This equivocation between's the subject's plastic, almost sculptural presence, and its literal groundedness, makes for compelling work, all the more so since these are our neighbors caught there." Or, as one of the participants put it, the whole "Secret Selves" experience was "kind of like being at an awkward costume party." A few of the subjects came forward in response to a newspaper article about the project, but most were rounded up by Richard Michelson, who owns a local gallery and is Mr. Nimoy's primary dealer. Both in real life and on the museum wall they form a fairly representative cross-section of Northampton, an artsy college town known for its vigorous gay and lesbian community and for harboring a generous share of eccentrics and free spirits.
A local painter showed up for his session with Mr. Nimoy as a sort of wood sprite, covered in leaves and mud, and a foster-care mother parted her fur coat to show that she was wearing nothing underneath. One woman came with a sheep. Another, a psychotherapist, wielded a chainsaw. A rabbi came bare-chested and wearing leather, and Barry Moser, the well-known engraver and printmaker, immediately stripped naked and posed with his English mastiff. A transgendered former Marine appeared in a cancan costume. And a father and son posed together, dad dressed as a gangster and his teenage son, for some reason, as a shark -- or more precisely, as he points out on the DVD, a shark with arms that shoot lasers.
"I tried to get some bankers, but they all turned me down," Mr. Michelson said. "They told me they were just as boring on the inside as they are on the outside." He did manage to recruit the mayor of Northampton, who showed up with an electric guitar, and the chief executive of an advertising firm, who had dressed himself as a wizard.
Because of some of his previous work -- especially "The Full Body Project," nude photographs of plus-sized women -- several people showed up expecting just to take their clothes off, Mr. Nimoy said, and there were some others he felt uncomfortable with. "I sensed something too intensely felt, and I just didn't want to get into that territory," he said. "But mostly I was surprised by people's openness and vulnerability. I had no idea what to expect."
Typically, Mr. Nimoy chatted with his subjects for a few minutes, and then, not unlike a film director, encouraged them to express their inner selves. Most responded warmly and immediately, though Matt Mitchell, the wood sprite, said that at first he had trouble with Mr. Nimoy's instruction.
"He wanted me to pose like a tree and I was like: 'A tree? I'm supposed to be like the earth itself.' " (Mr. Mitchell had initially been reluctant to pose, he added, until he realized that in his own work, painting portraits of Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he asks people to expose themselves in a very similar way.)
For at least two of the subjects, the experience of being photographed proved transformative. A writer who posed with a violin but had to be shown how to hold it has since taken up the instrument for real. And Tammy Twotone, the transgendered former Marine, decided to stop living a double life. "During the day I would switch back to living the life of a male," she explained at Mr. Michelson's gallery, joking that she was Clark Kent during the daytime and Rita Hayworth at night.

"Bingo Night in The Promised Land" brings together the works of British artist(s) Miss Bugs, Los Angeles newcomer Hips and Hair, and Australian street sensation Reko Rennie.

Miss Bugs is a collaboration founded in the early part of 2007; consisting of two people - boy and girl - Miss & Bugs.

In this transitional body of work, Miss Bugs draws initial influence from the imagery of religious icons and paintings. Playing within the limitations of the composition that is characteristic of religious images of the Virgin Mary, modern throwaway imagery is mixed up with the symbolic, to create powerful visions of the female form. The decorative element, black graphic line and flatness are intrinsic to the work. The figures are depicted with veiled or partly masked faces and the eye is drawn to the delicate hands. The slight distortion of scale gives the figures an otherworldly feel and warps the modern idea of conventional beauty.

New on the scene is Los Angeles based artist, Jonathan Bussiere, also known as Hips and Hair. Hips and Hair's work combines stencil with images of pin-up girls in newspaper collages, dripping with bloody paint splatters. His work can be described as a morphing of modernist cubism while lending itself to a 80's palette with a New-Wave feel. "...I often wrestle with pop-culture ideals of beauty and find myself both enthralled with certain images, but despising them at the same time..."

Reko Rennie is a Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Gummaroi man, who was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1974.  Through his art, Rennie explores the traditional symbology of indigenous flora and fauna. Rennie's artwork goes beyond the frame and reflects his love and history of working directly onto walls. His work is patterned with repetitions of native flora symbology that renders a language of wallpapered interiors. This contrasts with Rennie's beginnings as a street artist in Melbourne. Rennie utilizes the indigenous language of geometric motifs that are specific to the Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Gummaroi people. These associations are key to Rennie's focus on what it means to be an urban aboriginal man in contemporary society.

SHOW RUNS AUGUST 7 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

New Image Art Gallery                  
7908 Santa Monica Blvd.         
West Hollywood, CA  90046               
T: 323.654.2192              
www.newimageartgallery.com
Open Tuesday - Saturday, 1pm to 6pm