“In a world where color reigns supreme and where trends and fads in technique pace the art world, photographer Rodney Smith’s work stands in stark contrast. Using a lush palette of monochrome tones and creating prints that can hang beside any on a museum wall, Smith’s images reverberate with an elegant, natural beauty.”- Gilman Contemporary
I’ve been in love with photographer Rodney Smith’s style for years. His photos are not just beautiful but timeless. A 45 year retrospective of his work will be held at Gilman Contemporary from December 18 to January 19. I wish I was in Ketchum, Idaho to see it. You can view the artwork at Gilman’s website. Here are some of my favorites.
I love finding illustrations like this, that make you feel more mindful about everyday life. Illustrator Yao Xiao shows us many examples of when we can replace a “thank you” with a “sorry.” Instead of feeling bad about our choices or who we are as a person, let’s stop apologizing and start being more positive. Expressing words of gratitude is so much more powerful, isn’t it?
On Monday, it was announced that Perrelli’s annual calendar isn’t going to be what we always expect – stunning supermodels posing nude or scantily clad. Pirelli gave famed photographer Annie Leibovitz free reign to cast twelve women for the 2016 calendar and she boldly decided to take portraits of accomplished women instead – writers, filmmakers, artists and philanthropists. Included are comedian Amy Schumer, artist/activist Yoko Ono, writer Fran Lebowitz, singer-songwriter Patti Smith, Chinese actress Yao Chen, and Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat. They were all shot in Leibovitz’s studio this past summer.
As the photographer stated in a press conference, “Pirelli came to me and told me they wanted to shift this year to something different. I made the suggestion that they do women performance artists or women comedians, almost a take-off. I just thought of women I admired and I didn’t let anyone in the studio from Pirelli. It became a very strong set of very simple portraits […] No one was supposed to look like they tried in these pictures.” She continued, “I still can’t believe the women who agreed to do it, did it. I felt a big responsibility to that […] It shouldn’t be a big step, but it is a big step.”
Isn’t it refreshing to see accomplished women with real bodies in the Pirelli calendar? The New York Times is saying that it “may signal a cultural shift.” As they wrote, “this is the first time there is no provocation in the posing, and the first time the attraction of the subjects is in their résumés, not their measurements.”
Unfortunately, we can’t purchase a calendar ourselves, an exclusive group of 20,000 “VIPS” (musicians, politicians and royalty) are given it as gifts instead. To get a general feeling of what’s inside, make sure to watch the behind-the-scenes video, below.
Above: Amy Schumer, Fran Lebowitz and Tavi Gevinson.
From left, Natalia Vodianova, Serena Williams and Patti Smith.
One of my lifelong dreams is to travel the world and report at art events like museum and gallery openings or art festivals . During my time at My Modern Met, a few of the events that I really enjoyed were Art of the Streets at LA’s MOCA, Vivid Sydney in Australia, Tim Burton’s retrospective at the LACMA, and Art Basel in Miami. A few of the installations that I reported on but that I wished I had seen in person are Jaume Plensa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leandro Erlich’s building illusion in Paris, and Tomas Saraceno mesh orbit in Dusseldorf, Germany.
One of the art festivals that I would love to attend is Sculpture by the Sea at Australia’s Bondi Beach. There’s just something about seeing artworks sit right on the beach, with water and light as their backdrop. I can only imagine experiencing them with the wonderfully refreshing smell of the beach all around them.
From the Sculpture by the Sea website:
Staged on the spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi is one of Sydney’s most popular events, with 520,000 visitors viewing over 100 sculptures by artists from around the world. Held since 1997, this free to the public exhibition captures the imagination of Sydney and its visitors for three weeks each spring and is the largest annual sculpture exhibition in the world. The exhibition generates an almost unprecedented level of goodwill among the public as they enjoy one of the most unique events in the world.
The 2015 show just wrapped up, it ran from October 22 to November 9. Here are some of the highlights from this year as well as from years’ past.
Above: Norton Flavell, Dust, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo by Jessica Wyld Photography.
Sandra Cross, Dissolution III, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Zilvinas Kempinas, Kakashi (2012), Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Wang Shugang, Man on Ball, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Barbara Licha, Listen Time Passes, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Kim Perrier, Ashes to Ashes, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Kathleen Berney, Minden Jó Lesz 1953 (All Shall Be Well), Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
TaeGeun Yang, Pig of Fortune #2, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Michael Van Dam, Intervention (2014), Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2015. Photo Clyde Yee.
Elaine Miles, Tidal Pools, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2014. Photo Meredith Schofield.
Carla Gottgens, The Guardians, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2014. Photo Meredith Schofield.
Linton Meagher, Glamarama, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2014. Photo Clyde Yee.
Matt Calvert, Girl Pointing, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2013. Photo Samantha Burns.
David McCracken, Diminish and Ascend, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2013. Photo William Patino.
I’m hoping to keep attending art events around the world. Can’t wait to share them with you! How about you? Which art events have you been to? Which ones will you remember forever?
Back in September, I attended the press preview of The Broad, the new contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles. It was a pop art lover’s dream! Works by Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Takashi Murakami were all on display.
The show stopper, however, was The Infinity Mirrored Room by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. (See above.) I’m still daydreaming about it. Imagine being able to step into space and be surrounded by an endless array of stars. You walk into a room that’s lined with mirrors and strung with thousands of LED lights. The ground is covered in water, save for a platform you walk on. You have 30 seconds to fully immerse yourself in the experience. I’m sure I was not alone in thinking, “Is this what heaven feels like?”
Dynamically changing LA’s urban landscape, The Broad’s architecture is, in and of itself, a beauty to behold. Design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s (DS+R) concept was “a veil and a vault.” As you walk down the stairs, you can look through large glass windows to see art pieces hung on racks and shelves, it’s the storage area around which the museum was built. (The Broad is showing just 250 of their more than 2,000 works.) This is referred to as the vault. The outermost structure is a lattice-like veil that lets light shine into the building in a beautifully natural way. I was surprised that the third-floor skylights could bring in such perfect indirect, diffused light.
The Broad is named after the billionaire businessman and avid art collector Eli Broad and his wife Edythe. (Yes, that’s Broad of homebuilding company Kaufman & Broad.) Their mission is to make art accessible to everyone, that’s why general admission is free!
Make sure you visit this new art institution in LA. It’ll be well worth your time.
Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons. This larger than life piece is 12 feet high and is made of mirror-polished stainless steel.
Tulips by Jeff Koons
Rabbit by Jeff Koons
Single Elvis by Andy Warhol
Two Marilyns by Andy Warhol
I…I’m Sorry by Roy Lichtenstein
Away from the Flock by Damien Hirst
Under the Table by Robert Therrien
No title by Robert Therrien
Norms La Cienega on Fire by Edward Ruscha
Red Block by El Anatsui. Those are woven red liquor labels!
Of Chinese Lions, Peonies, Skulls and Foundations by Takashi Murakami
DOB in the Strange Forest (Blue DOB) by Takashi Murakami
There’s lots of places where you can find affordable art online, like at Minted, Society6, Art.com, Yellowkorner, Saatchi Art, and even our store My Modern Shop. (See Emily Henderson’s list for more.) One of my go-to places, however, is a site called 20×200. Started back in 2007 by Jen Bekman, 20×200 is a great place to find beautiful art prints from both established and emerging artists. Their limited edition prints are exclusive to the site, which means you get a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity with your purchase.
Recently, they put out their 2015 gift guide which divides up their works into 18 different categories like Animal Lovers, City Slickers, Foodies, Nature Lovers and Space Cases. I, personally, went through each of the gift guides to pick out 15 of my favorite pieces. From Paul Octavious’ serene scene called Kite Hill to a fun, roller skating Weimaraner, you won’t be disappointed by this collection. I promise! In fact, I want to hang each of these pieces inside my house.
Here’s Octavious on Kite Hill:
For the past two years I have visited a beautiful mound of earth that I have come to call “the hill.” Each time I come to the hill, a new story is told to me as if the hill is my stage and the locals are the actors in this daily play. On this particular day, over two-hundred people gathered on the hill and flew kites of all different kinds. Seeing this for the first time was a moment I won’t soon forget.
Above: Kite Hill by Paul Octavious
Baby Monkey No. 6 by Sharon Montrose
White Breasted Nut Hatch by Carrie Marill
Roller Rover by William Wegman
Praia Piquinia 14/08/12 14h00 by Christian Chaize
Bob’s Giant Donut by April Walters
Modern Art by Craig Damrauer
Hugo (Library) by Joseph O. Holmes
Mountaineer in an Ice Cave of Paradise Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, 1925 by Vintage Editions
Cemetery Rd, 3169-3327, Viewmont, NY by Pete Mauney
Untitled (I told my therapist about you) by Mike Monteiro
After the Rain by Chikara Umihara
City Lights United States of America by Space Editions
Hello, I’m Alice Yoo! I’m founder and CEO of Skylar Yoo, a company dedicated to inspiring and empowering women to be bold. We sell apparel, art prints and accessories to the modern feminist.
In my former life, I was editor-in-chief of the art and culture blog My Modern Met, which I founded back in 2007. I curated and wrote about art, design and photography for more than seven years. (In fact, I published over 7,000 articles which were seen by millions of people worldwide.) I’m also co-author of a book called For Love: 25 Heartwarming Celebrations of Humanity, which is on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
I live in southern California along with my husband and my two toddler boys.
This blog is about what I love, the tough experiences that I’ve learned from, and my journey as a second time entrepreneur. Right now, I’m in the midst of a 365 day challenge, to read one book a day. If you share my passions or want to learn some cool new facts, come along for the ride. I hope to inspire, educate and entertain you!
