Fashion forward.

The illustrator Robert Fontanelli had an all-too-quick show in Chelsea last week that I, unfortunately, missed. A friend sent me pictures on his iPhone of Fontanelli’s drawings which led me to his site. His work is a combination of fashion illustration and homoerotic imagery mixed with the fetishism of all things mid-century modern. Some of the images are sexy (“Storage”) while others are, somewhat, disturbing ("Rape of Red Eames Chair #1"). All of them are, in my humble opinion, brilliant.

Object of desire.

Gary Hustwit, who created the wonderful, must-see film Helvetica has announced a new film that I am eagerly anticipating. Debuting in 2009, Objectified is a documentary about industrial design. The film features some of DWR’s favorite designers: Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Hella Jongerius and Karim Rashid. It aims to “document the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives.” I am equally excited about the film’s logo, which features the Panton chair. They’re blogging about the film here.

Scholars of Shaker culture.

For 40 years, Faith and Edward Deming Andrews collected Shaker art, amassing what is believed to be one of the most comprehensive collections of Shaker materials ever assembled. The Andrewses’ story, from acquiring and ultimately disposing of their collection, is the subject of a traveling exhibit, “Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection.” In addition to showing more than 200 objects, some of which have never been on display before, the exhibit examines the Andrewes’ involvement – as scholars, collectors, and dealers – of Shaker art.

The Andrewses have been credited with being among the first to recognize the unique contributions of the Shakers to American culture. “The story of how they acquired and eventually disposed of their collection is a fascinating tale of intrigue.”

Through October 31, 2008, the exhibit is at the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Contact them for additional tour locations. For a review by “Antiques and the Arts,” click here.

Destroying a classic.

The above image, I’ll admit, caused me to wince. I thought, “who would do such a thing to such a perfect design?” The answer is Mark Wentzel, an artist in Georgia represented by Project 4 Gallery in Washington, D.C.  His “XLounge” is a conceptual piece focusing on the “masterful design of the Eames Lounge Chair and its significance today.” It is a statement on the chair and America’s consumption of products.

Good W(Ork).

How fantastic are these city maps by Ork Posters? I’ve always been fascinated with maps and their designs and colors. These maps, created by Jenny Beorkrem, reinvent the city map as graphic and modern art.  And while two of the cities I’ve called home (SF and NYC) are included, my hometown of Baltimore, regrettably, has not made the cut.  Hopefully, their collection will expand.  At $27 a screen print, they’re affordable and a perfect gift, whether you’re representing the Tenderloin or Brooklyn.

Skateboard headboard.

I just had to share this picture of a DIY project my partner and I took on, to make a headboard out of designer skateboards. I started with a Min bed, bought at a DWR warehouse sale, and collected decks to go with the colorful theme of the room.  Featured are three limited edition Jeff Koons boards for Supreme, a Ryan McGinness board, a Donny Miller board and a purple deck my mother got me at Colette in Paris.  Yes, that’s Prince and Michael Jackson.  The result is a perfect pop of fun for any young boy’s room, or in this case a room for a man longing for his youth.  If you have any DIY headboards we’d love to see them.  Send the blog team an email.

Murakami in Los Angeles.

If you’re in Los Angeles this fall and want to see Takashi Murakami’s work, don’t fret if you cannot get hold of Kanye for a private home visit.  The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA will run a three-part show of the artist’s various creations from October 29 through February 11. The 20,000 square-foot exhibit will house painting, sculpture, installation and film.

According to MOCA “the first portion will be an immersive, theatrically lit environment, recreating the annual ‘Wonder Festival’ comic market convention. It will feature many of Murakami’s acclaimed large-scale otaku-inspired figure projects of the late 1990s, including a new version of Second Mission Project Ko2 (2000-07). The second section will comprise a grid-like shelving display of all of Murakami’s merchandise, including multiples, collectibles, and maquettes, among other items. The final section will trace Murakami’s artistic development since 1991, including early works that engage branding and the evolution of his signature character, DOB.”

Louis Vuitton will be setting up a shop selling the artist’s handbag and accessories collaborations with the venerable luxury brand.  Surely, they’ll not be included in the price of admission.

100 homos.

Design Within Reach has always had a significant gay following. That goes without saying. So of course we fell in love with Don Florence’s “100 Homos” exhibit at Boltax Gallery in Shelter Island when we read about it on Towleroad. The pop portraits depict 100 name homosexuals, many of whom are famous in the art and design worlds: Jonathan Adler, Andy Warhol and Todd Oldham all made the cut. They’re great pop for $1,800 a pop. PDF of the portrait list is available here. [pdf]

High-flying art.

Molly Peck just sent me a link to something very strange and beautiful, two of my favorite adjectives.  The French artist Hubert Duprat shies away from traditional artist tools and creates his work with much more interesting materials: gold spangles, turquoise, opals, diamonds and caddis fly larvae. Yes, he makes art with bugs.

Cabinet magazine has stunning photos of the work and an interview with the artist up from their Spring issue. In the wild the flies create larvae casing from spun silk and found particles of sand, fish bone and the like. In Duprat's world the extremely adaptive buggers (ha, ha) play with finer materials resulting in living jewelry. It’s avant-garde art not for the squeamish.

Trailer talk.

Last week I headed over to Piedmont with a colleague from Design Within Reach to attend an art talk. The talk was with Lucinda Barnes, Deputy Director, Programs and Collections from the Berkeley Museum of Art and Andrea Zittel, a contemporary artist with an impressive catalog of work. Zittel’s sculptures and installations transform everything necessary for life—such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and socializing—into artful experiments in living. Blurring the line between life and art, Zittel’s projects extend to her own home and wardrobe. Andrea’s A-Z roots date back to  the early 90’s when a friend hired her to help him find a boyfriend. She gave him pointers on everything from home decorating to what shoes to buy.

We were invited to the talk to hear about BAMs newly acquired trailer from Andreas’ show commissioned for the SFMOMA in 1995. Andrea is such an engaging and interesting artist, I won’t begin to try and put her words in here, but please check out more about her here. She’s just starting up a stint at the Headlands Center for Arts and I can’t wait to see what she does next.