The Frieze-Mania Hits Manhattan

Art Frieze

Frieze Art Fair is renowned for cutting edge art and a fashion-forward crowd. Established in London in 2003 by the infinitely stylish Matthew Slotover and his co-director Amanda Sharp, it has become one of the art world’s hottest tickets.

This month, London’s coolest art fair hits Manhattan for the first time with the launch of Frieze New York. The four-day event (May 4-7) will see over 1000 of the world’s leading artists gather alongside curators, gallerists and collectors all set against a cool waterside backdrop and with a hip lineup of pop-up restaurants, parties and people to spot. And fashion trendsetters such as Net-à-porter and Mulberry join forces with the art world:

142804816_CB_4962_FD95A6FBA08E652B4137436BC9DAD1D7Co-publishers of Frieze Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp at the Mulberry dinner

On Friday, May 4 Mulberry hosted an intimate dinner in celebration of the Frieze Art Fair’s New York debut and in honour of the artists of Frieze Projects, of which Mulberry is the sponsor.

Frieze Projects is a not-for-profit initiative featuring commissioned artworks around the outdoor space of Randall’s Island, which are accessible to all visitors to the area. The dinner was held at The Crown restaurant on New York’s Upper East Side (readers of my fashion column in the SI Style magazine know this place already).

MF2The beautiful decorated entrance to The Crown Restaurant

MFThe ambiance

Derek & AlexaAmong the fashionable guests: Derek Blasberg and Alexa Chung

ClarinsThe Clarins-Courtin sisters

LanaLana Del Rey

American singer Lana Del Rey performed during the evening, wearing the three quarter blouse in flame heavy lace and the fitted pencil skirt in flame, both from the F/W 2012 Collection. Lana was Emma Hill’s inspiration for Mulberry’s newest bag, the Del Rey, which launches in stores and online in mid-May.
(Stay tuned as I will keep you inform you once it hits the shelves).

Lanadelrey bagMulberry’s Del Rey Bag

Last night, May 5 influencers from the worlds of fashion and art came together to join NET-A-PORTER iconfor a cocktail party and dinner celebrating Frieze Art Fair’s Chelsea Gallery Night, a night where more than 20 of Chelsea’s finest galleries opened their doors for a neighborhood block party filled with exclusive gallery previews, live music and food.

The NET-A-PORTER-sponsored event at the Hôtel Americano kicked off with roof-top cocktails and music by London DJ, Bip Ling, and continued with a seated dinner.

The Big Frieze hits NYC, I love!

LoL, Sandra

NET-A-PORTER_FRIEZE_CHELSEDINNER6Christopher Kane with Natalie Massanet in a lace dress by Alessandra Rich icon

NET-A-PORTER_FRIEZE_CHELSEDINNER7Giovanna Battaglia in a black leather coat
(Don’t we love the floral lace A-line dress by Miu Miu iconto the left and the neon-orange with white lace dress by Christopher Kane to the right in the background?!)

NET-A-PORTER_FRIEZE_CHELSEDINNER8Olympia Scarry in head to toe floral prints by Proenza Schouler. icon

NET-A-PORTER_FRIEZE_CHELSEDINNER4Designers Jason Wu and Roland Mouret

Photos: Courtesy of Mulberry, ©Craig Barritt/WireImage, Courtesy of Net-à-Porter and Frieze New York

The Gunter Sachs Collection at Sotheby’s

Gunter Sachas Coll.

Last night, I went to the exhibition opening of the Gunter Sachs Collection at Sotheby’s.

The art collection of famous German multimillionaire Gunter Sachs, who committed suicide at his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, at the age of 78, last year and who was once married to style icon Brigitte Bardot, will be sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London on May 22 & 23, 2012.

Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot

The 300 items are ranging from Pop Art works to Art Deco furniture, including paintings by Andy Warhol, Yves Klein and Mel Ramos, to name a few.

Sachs, one of the last great “playboys” and famed for his jet-set lifestyle, was friends with many famous artists.

Brigitte Bardot

Andy WarholBrigitte Bardot
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 120 by 120cm
Executed in 1974
Estimate £ 3,000,000 – 4,000,000

I love this Bardot painting!

Visit sotheby’s.com/sachs for further information, highlights and videos. For enquiries regarding the London auction, please call + 44 (0) 20 7293 5390.

LoL, Sandra

Photo: AFP, Getty Images, Reuters

Fairy Tale Mania

Fairy Tale Mania

You cannot be everywhere… The same day I flew to Paris for the amazing shoot with Dior, I was also invited to London for another special event.

La Maniathe Polish fashion house under the Honorary Patronage of Karl Lagerfeld - and Galerie Gmurzynska hosted a multimedia event, so-called “Fairy Tale Mania”, presenting La Mania’s F/W 2012 collection and exhibiting the new work of artist Marco Perego. You might recognize Perego’s work from last year’s post when I met him in Zurich.

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In case you haven’t heard of La Mania before, here are some facts. The label is the brainchild of Joanna Przetakiewicz, launched in 2010 with the one-of-a-kind blessing by her friend Karl Lagerfeld who has been offering guidance and inspiration to the Polish designer. Joanna is not only wearing her designs, she is also one of the rare Haute Couture clients in the world. The last time I saw her, was at the Stéphane Rolland show in Paris.

The exhibition “Fairy Tale Mania” is open to the public until the end of February at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, 5b Pall Mall, London SW1 (free entry). It represents Poland in the International Fashion Showcase project, organized by British Council and British Fashion Council as part of London Fashion Week.

Below you can see some photos of the event in London.

LoL, Sandra

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Marco Perego
MY SOUL: Don’t leave me empty…
Painted metal, resin
2011

Brauer_Gmurzynska-Marco Perego-Isabelle Bscher

Isabelle Bscher, daughter of Krystyna Gmurzynska, and artist Marco Perego

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Lapo Elkann, Zaha Hadid and Marco Perego

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Joanna Przetakiewicz with models in her F/W 2012 collection

Brauer_Gmurzynska-Designerin mit Partner

Joanna Przetakiewicz with her partner Jan Kulczyk, a prominent Polish business oligarch

Brauer_Gmurzynska-Rastrofer, Hadid, Bscher, Gmurzynska

Mathias Rastorfer, Zaha Hadid, Isabelle Bscher and Krystyna Gmurzynska
Photos: © Brauer

Meet Scott Campbell – Marc Jabobs’ Tattooer

Scott Campbell

From today until the end of March 2012, works of the young New York based artist, Scott Campbell will be exposed at Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich.

One of the most exciting artists working today, Campbell will present an installation of works from the past few years at Galerie Gmurzynska’s Zurich location, “Bless this Mess”. This will be Campbell’s first European solo exhibition.

Campbell_Bless this messBless this mess, 2011

Known for his intricate works in a variety of unusual and exciting mediums Campbell is at the forefront of young artists reintroducing craft and technique to art.

In Zurich, Campbell will present works created in a variety of mediums, including paintings, sculptures and, arguably his best-known works, low reliefs fabricated from uncirculated U.S. currency. In this time of economic turmoil, his works created with laser cut currency have acquired a variety of sentiments and meanings.

Campbell_Burnt ButterflyBurnt Butterfly, 2010

Included in the exhibition is a group of rare works created during a Mexico City exhibition in 2010. After an argument with the gallery owner Campbell set the already sold artworks he was exhibiting on fire, destroying all but a few of them. Those that survive hold beautiful burns and smoke designs from the action.

Campbell_Untitled (Black with White Butterfly)Untitled (Black with White Butterfly), 2011

Campbell will debut a new series of works in Zurich, the Fuse Paintings. Completed with designs drawn with gun powder and then lit they continue his artistic exploration into drawings, iconography and cutting edge mediums.

Tattoos

In addition to his artistic career Campbell maintains an active practice as one of the most renowned tattoo artists in the world. His living designs can be seen on Marc Jacobs, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Nan Goldin, Elizabeth Peyton and Richard Prince among many others.

Campbell was born in 1977 and raised in a Louisiana fishing camp. He studied biochemistry at the University of Texas before moving to San Francisco to pursue his life long passion for drawing pictures. He was able to realize this by becoming a tattoo artist and creating everlasting, movable images on skin. This practice led him to live around the world, including Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and South America.

S 2011

Scott Campbell was invited by Marc Jacobs to participate in Louis Vuitton’s artist collaboration series for the men S/S 2011 collection. Past participants have included Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince. He has also recently collaborated with Pirelli, designing a motorcycle, tires and accessories.

In February 2012 Rizzoli will publish a monograph on Campbell, “If You Don’t Belong, Don’t Be Long”, which explores tattooing, art and the human body.

LoL, Sandra

Campbell_Huge Ill start my diet tomorrowHuge I’ll start my diet tomorrow, 2011

Prada 24h Museum

Prada Invite

At the moment, I am in Paris for many exciting events and I have so much to show you. Let me get you started with this:

Welcome to Prada’s “24 h Museum“, designed by Francesco Vezzoli with AMO, Rem Koolhaas‘ think tank. It has been open in Paris for 24 hours only, from yesterday till today in the historic Palais d’Iéna, the building designed by Auguste Perret between 1936 and 1946, today home of CESE (Conseil Economique, Social et Environnemental), the French ‘third Chamber’.

Miuccia & FrancescoMiuccia Prada & Francesco Vezzoli

AMO’s installation for the “24 h Museum“ is divided in three sections, each inspired by a particular type of museum space: historic, contemporary and forgotten. The three sections are instrument to the sequence of events that take place during 24 hours in different areas of the ground floor of the Palais d’Iéna. The central space is a large metal cage made from grills and neon lights that encloses the work by Francesco Vezzoli.

In the three sections – historic, contemporary and forgotten – Vezzoli is creating a “non-existent museum“ where he shows his personal tribute to the eternal allure of femininity through interpretations of classical sculptures that make reference to contemporary divas.

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At the top of the stairway, epicentre of the building, Vezzoli is placing a majestic sculpture of a female, reinterpreted with the features of a mysterious goddess. Vezzoli’s vision is of a museum that exists for just 24 hours and which is also a celebration of a collective rite that mixes visitors, red-carpet, Oedipus’ complex and night visions.

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Yesterday night, the museum turned into a disco-club where I spotted Kate Moss who was djing and Dita von Teese who was rushing through the exhibition. Different events will be following the next few hours.

LoL, Sandra

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Kate MossKate Moss

IMG_8054Don’t we just love Caroline Issa’s Prada earrings?!

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AnnaA very special moment: A happy Anna Wintour with Jonathan Newhouse and Franca Sozzani.

Prada3Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Courtesy of Prada

Anselm Reyle for Dior

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“I loved working on the Lady Dior handbag. Most of my work builds on objects that already exist, which I then transform. I applied the same philosophy.”

- Anselm Reyes

Dior Neon

When Fashion meets ArtDior is collaborating with Berlin artist Anselm Reyle for S/S 2012. The original and vibrant collection of leathergoods, accessories and makeup, currently presented exclusively in a Miami pop-up Dior store during the Art Basel show is a dream and will be available worldwide in January 2012.

Making of Anselm

Dior has given to the artist total freedom on the creation of this collection and the outcome is vibrant and colourful. I definitely would like to own one of those bags!

 

ANSELM REYLE’S MAKEUP COLLECTION FOR DIOR

Camouflage

A „Camouflage“ Eyeshadow Palette
Adorned with the „Camouflage“ motif created for Dior, an eyeshadow palette offers a mixed harmony of violet, grey and black. Shiny and matt effects recall the artist’s leitmotifs and compose sophisticated eyes.

Diornailpolishes

High-Impact Nail Lacquers
The nail lacquers are playful complements that set the tone in explosive colours. Bold violet of ultra-violet, deep black of untitled black, vivid pink of pink graffiti, vibrant blue of electric blue and a subtle silver of metallic silver compose an electrifying quintet that brings to mind Anselm Reyle’s passion for neon shades.

Here are some photos of the Dior pop-up store,
Miami Design District, 191 NE 40th Street, Miami, FL

LoL, Sandra

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Anselm3Photos: Courtesy of Dior

The Cabinet Of Curiosities of Thomas Erber

Le cabinet

I just spent 48 hours in London that were filled with many interesting events, parties and meetings. Let me get started with the launch party for the ‘Cabinet de Curiosites de Thomas Erber’ 2011.

After his successful collaboration with Parisian concept store Colette in 2010, fashion consultant and former journalist Thomas Erber has brought his cabinet to Browns in London. Showcasing a very interesting selection of pieces including everything from fashion and furniture design, to travel packages, art and photography, Erber has gathered many internationally renowned artists and designers to fill his cabinet with their most unique creations.

IMG_4647My key to “Le Cabinet de Curiosités de Thomas Erber”

IMG_4435Thomas Erber with me

„My quest, has always been to push the limits of creativity, to me it is the only thing that feeds the dream living in each of us. Browns, since the beginning, has been the coolest place in the city to me, it has always defended elegance and most importantly independent designers more than anything or anyone else in London.“

- Thomas Erber

Christopher KaneDesigner Christopher Kane with me (Love his designs! Click here for a previous post)

Here are my favourite curiosities:

FASHION

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Rodarte – The Piece

In 2011, the Rodarte sisters, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, joined with two of the world’s most highly acclaimed photographers, Catherine Opie and Alec Soth, to create the first publication to explore and examine the world of Rodarte.

For Thomas Erber’s cabinet at Browns, Rodarte have collaborated with artist Rebekah Miles on a one of a kind book cover, hand painted with an image from the book.

£ 250


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Lulu Guinness – The Piece

Designed to befit the expression, “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder”, this bespoke bag is characteristic of Lulu’s wit and charm. The cubic evening bag is covered in black satin with a wrist strap and is presented in another larger cube which is hand-embroidered with the designer’s iconic handwriting.

£ 1995

 

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Manolo Blahnik – The Piece

“Albero” – an exquisitely delicate shoe. Crafted in crocodile, silk satin leaves encase the ankle, while the foot rests on orange satin lining.

£ 3850 (size 37)

 

Melinda Gloss

Melinda Gloss – The Piece

Melinda Gloss is the in 2006 established label by childhood friends Rémi de Laquintane and Mathieu de Ménonville.

High quality meets high fashion, as a traditional tweed overcoat is given a modern dressing-down by a hooded inner-layer. Raw edging gives the reassuringly weighty material a sense of lightness without compromising its warmth.

The three coats are available in size 50 for £ 1750 each.


CURIOSITIES & ART

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I-Woodesign

A unique jewelry box and watch box in Tamo Ash, one of the rarest and most reasured woods in the world. Sleek and sophisticated by design, the rich finish of the wood results in a piece which is strikingly superior in every sense.

Jewelry Box £ 7200, Watch Box £ 6300


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Hungarian-born artist Kata Legrady is a very interesting woman to talk to. She has attracted international fame for her iconic series “Guns & Candies”. A former child soldier, she draws inspiration from her childhood memories.

Kata

While we were talking, this bag by Christian Louboutin caught her eyes. It reminded her of a bomb, funny enough!

Katie

Kata Legrady – The Piece

‘A 47 Kalashnikov, multicolour original gun with applicated “Smarties” covered with Plexiglass’

The internationally celebrated series, “Guns and Candies” was started in 2008, and is a set of colourful and oversized pieces exploring Legrady’s double fascination with war arms and candies. The Smarties are simultaneously enigmatic, alluring and scary, and appear to leave a residual trace on the retina, like a persisitent dream or a meditative vision. Truly popular art in the very Warholian meaning of the word, these images and artifacts are universally accessible and immediately identifiable. They demand only a little empathy from the viewer’s part, therefore investing each beholder with a power to reveal both their symbolic and artistic qualities.

£ 25000


IMG_4461London based designer Paul Kelley

Paul Kelley

Paul Kelley – The Piece

A stainless steel polished desk/dressing table with a mirror and a blue acrylic lined interior. The handsome yet elegant work boasts solid brass-plated drawers and solid teak interiors.

£ 54000
All photos above: © Sandra Bauknecht

 

TRAVEL

Uruguay-Kuoni (Photo-Kechicheva)[1]

“Riders”, 40 x 60 cm, Silver gelatine print, fiber paper, B & W, argentic print, single copy. Especially made for the Cabinet Of Curiosities of Thomas Erber, 2011 edition at Browns by Elina Kechicheva, £ 1840.

LES VOYAGES DE THOMAS BY KUONI

The Road Trip

A mesmerizing and romantic road trip leads to Uruguay, to the edge of the end of the world, just between the “elder brothers” of Brazil and Argentina, and along the Uruguayan coast – which will slowly unveil its mysteries and wonders in a land that is yet to be fully discovered.

A ten day trip will start approximately at £2150 per person (without flights).

Namibia-Kuoni(Photo Kechicheva)Photographs by Elina Kechicheva also available, £ 1840

The Family Safari

A magical, adventurous family trip to the heart of rugged but soulful Namibia, the “king country”, a jewel located on the west coast of southern Africa. Travelers will venture away from the famous Skeleton Coast to the untouched Namib Desert, where safaris are still real and wild – and will be accompanied by dedicated and knowledgeable local people who will help them to experience the real Namibia.

A ten day trip will start approximately at £ 4285 per person (without flights).

 

The after party took place in London’s newly opened up hot spot: Le Baron.
Here are some photos of the night:

IMG_4524Mark van Huisseling with me

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DSC_6604Christian Louboutin and Henry Holland

DSC_6749Mickey got all excited seeing…

DSC_6826…a half naked beauty. 
Photos: © Jean Picou

A real cabinet of curiosties!

LoL, Sandra

O’Clock – Officine Panerai at Milan Triennale

Officine Invite

The reason for my trip to Milan this week was the opening of “O’Clock – time design, design time” with Officine Panerai as the main partner. The exhibition is curated by Silvana Annicchiarico and Jan van Rossem, with a special exhibition design by Patricia Urquiola that analyses the relationship between the concept of time and design, on display at Milan Triennale from 11th October 2011 to 8th January 2012.

The works on show describe the way in which  some 80 international designers and artists have interpreted or represented one of the fundamental themes of our culture, that of time.

Panerai1

Patricia Urquiola has also created for Officine Panerai the installation “I mondi di Officine Panerai” (The worlds of Officine Panerai), presented here for the first time, in which eight watch models recount, as protagonists, the design of Panerai. The installation, positioned at the end of the exhibition, is open from 11th to 23rd October and consists of eight models in as many display cases, in which the watches are presented in a setting that skilfully blends humour and poetry and create the effect of a time tunnel which appears to possess a soul, that of time.

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If the link between the concept of time and a brand of high-end timepieces is obvious and immediate, the same can be said of the connection between Panerai and the world of design. The Radiomir and Luminor, created in the 1930s and 1940s for the Italian Navy frogmen commandos, have become icons of fine watch-making since their launch in the 1990s.

DamienDamien Hirst, Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting

On the occasion of the exhibition the famous British artist Damien Hirst is premiering two works, made using the spin painting technique and using dials from Panerai watches and household gloss on canvas: Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting and Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting.

“I love Panerai”, declared the British artist. “The watches are timeless and I made this spin painting using black Panerai watch faces without hands in the pattern of the seeds in the head of a sunflower – I hope the painting makes you think, we are here for a good time, not a long time.”

Damien2Damien Hirst, Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting
© 2011 Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved DACS, 
Photos: by Prudence Cuming Associates

By the way, Damien Hirst has included Panerai watches on several occasions in the past in his works: a Panerai watch is painted on a table next to medicines and a skull in “Skull with Watch” from 2005 and is physically present in the installations “The Tranquility of Solitude (for George Dyer)” (2006), and “Killing Time” (2008).

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Gomitolo Clock
Carlo e Benedetta Tamborini
Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2008
courtesy Diamantini & Domeniconi

A cotton-knit cover; almost as if to suggest a subtle link between the technique of measuring time and the art of weaving.

One of my favourite art works is the following, created with different pieces of furniture:

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The bug – Time Machine
Patricia Urquiola
site-specific, 2011

Time has always been an obsession for humanity in that it is the least controllable and modifiable element. The strongest limit to be overcome and on which technology and progress can intervene least of all. Dealing with our being limited, with a deadline, which we can try to extend, but not avoid. Dealing with eternity and the impossibility of experiencing it. The curiosity of being able to foresee or read the future, the primary search of every civilization, which perpetuates itself in continuous unlikely and unfound attempts, based on foundations comparable to beliefs. Power linked to a supposed control of time, by means of forecasts, surveys, readings, premonitions, the study of cycles, the creation of systems, genetic analysis, preventative tests, séances, oracles, reading of cards, bones, animal guts, the hand, the stars. To be able to make money on the stock market, to know society’s moods, the opinions of the decision-makers, to create consensus, prevent, anticipate, control. The final solution? Invent a time machine just like the train, the car, the airplane and the spaceship were invented.
Further and further away, faster and faster, in less time, but always and only in the present and space.
The bug is a worm, an insect, something unforeseen, an error, an act of nature or something artificial, like a metaphor for the impossibilty of total control of time.

Patricia Urquiola

IMG_1352Patricia Urquiola in front of her time machine

Patricia and mePatricia Urquiola with me

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Poster Plants
Oscar Diaz
2011
courtesy Oscar Diaz

A piece of white paper with a paper tree with branches and a vase filled with green paint. The special material used to make the poster causes the green paint to be absorbed at regular intervals by the branches, so that the plant can „grow“ in the space of a few months.

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Domino
Albin Karlsson
2005
courtesy Albin Karlsson

Dominoes arranged into the symbol of infinity fall one after the other in a chain reaction, to then rise again as if controlled by an invisible hand, ad infinitum.

Watch

Clock
Christiaan Postma
2008 
courtesy Christiaan Postma

At 3:00 on the clock’s right side, the word THREE will appear, fading out as time passes; then, at about 3:30, the word FOUR will slowly begin to emerge.

Eternity

Eternity
Alicia Eggert, Mike Fleming
2010
courtesy Alicia Eggert & Mike Fleming

30 clocks and 36 black hands for the hours and the minutes move so as to form the word Eternity every 12 hours and only for a few secons on a white acrylic panel.

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Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci
2011
courtesy of Sandra Bauknecht

This one was a little joke…got you? But sometimes clothes are pieces of art.
My look for the exhibition opening: Black and white dress and ruffled jacket with zipper detail by Givenchy, suede pumps by Yves Saint Laurent, stay-ups “Bonny Dots” by Wolford and cocktail ring by Dior Haute Joaillerie.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but must be lived forwards” – Sören Kierkegaard

LoL, Sandra

S&meSuryia Hill to the right with me, Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Yves Klein and Lalique

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“Blue has no dimensions. It is beyond dimensions, whereas the other colours are not.” 
- Yves Klein

During the last days, I have been telling you all about the vibrant blue fashion trend. Here you see an art work that would match perfectly: Yves Klein’s Victoire de Samothrace by Lalique, 2011. The sulpture  is a limited edition of 83 crystal pieces, in tribute to the late artist Yves Klein who would have been 83 years old this year, combining two artistic approaches, the one of Lalique and the one of Klein.

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Yves Klein (1928-1962), inventor of the IKB (International Klein Blue), a distinctive ultramarine blue, is considered to be one of the most important protagonists of the post-war artistic avantgarde.
René Lalique (1860-1945) was a major player of the Art Nouveau and subsequent Art Deco movement. His perfume bottles and glass designs transformed the female shape into a sensuous and mysterious body within the decorative home.

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This weekend, I was invited to the private viewing at Galerie Gmurzynska. The sculpture is based on its namesake, an iconic work from Greek antiquity held in the Louvre, for which Klein obtained the moulds in 1962. Lalique have recreated Victoire de Samothrace with the lost wax technique, which René Lalique used for his original jewellery creations. The works are individually crafted and sculptured by the master glassmakers, making each crystal edition unique.

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The new version, to be made by Lalique’s craftsmen, is priced at £75,000. Daniel Moquay, the president of the Yves Klein Foundation, who is married to Klein’s widow, told the British Telegraph that he has approved the enterprise and the price: “It is not a copy, it is a reinterpretation in the spirit of Yves Klein. But it won’t be included in the artist’s catalogue raisonné. It is 100 per cent Lalique.”

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Marco Perego – Secrets

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Last Friday, I went to the opening of Marco Perego’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland entitled “Secrets” curated by Isabelle Bscher at Galerie Gmurzynska. The exhibition features works from 2011 including 
3 sculptures, 40 drawings and 10 paintings and will be open until October 25, 2011.

Marco &IThe artist Marco Perego with me last Friday at the opening

Perego, born 1979 in Verona, Italy, is a very good-looking former soccer star who is now based in Los Angeles. He has presented solo shows worldwide, including a solo exhibition at the Museo Archeolgico Nazionale in Florence in 2008. In the same year, he unveiled one of his most controversial pieces, “The only good rockstar is a dead rock star”, a sculpture of a dead Amy Winehouse lying in a pool of blood, long before the soulful R’n’B songstress met an untimely end past July. In 2008 his painted works formed the background of Dolce & Gabbana’s advertising campaign. His animated film “Burn to Shine” will premiere next year at Sundance Film Festival.

s 2008Dolce & Gabbana’s S/S 2008 ad campaign with Marco Perego’s paintings in the back

Marco Perego - Isabelle BscherMarco Perego with Isabelle Bscher*

Marco 3Perego’s Portrait of Isabelle Bscher, Mixed media on paper, 2011

In 2007 Marco describes himself in an interview with the New York Observer like this: “I just believe in my dreams, the sun in the face, wind in the back, the rest take care from the destiny to dance with the stars.” He spent a year with Shamans in Argentina, after which he started his series „Secrets“. Perego who has taken inspiration from Freuds dream analysis, told Bscher: „These are drawings of the unconsious, of the inner demon within.“

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Perego 10

The artist is known for his controversial paintings, often a fantasy that perverts images that we take for granted as innocent. For example, when the Evil Queen drops all pretensions of prude as well as her knickers in front of the Seven Dwarves.

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IMG_1019Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld with me

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Carine Roitfeld’s son, art dealer and curator himself, counts the artist amongst his closest friends. So no wonder, he came with an entourage of famous and close friends to the opening, among them Fiat scion Lapo Elkann and Starvos Niarchos.

Rastorfer;Kracht, Perego, ElkannFrom left to right: Mathias Rastorfer, Andrea Kracht, Marco Perego and Lapo Elkann*

Niclas Pol - Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld - Starvos Niarchos - Andy Valmorbida - Marco PeregoFamous friends: Niclas Pol, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Starvos Niarchos, Andy Valmorbida with Marco Perego.*

About his life in the city and his friends he said once to the New York Observer: “It’s the same, because I never forget where I’m from. I am the same kid. I love to sit down and be like a voyeur. I love to watch people, and feel like a pirate. My friends are the best pirates in the world. I promise.”

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Marco6Marco Perego, La terre et la lune, 2011, Gypsum, 158 x 140 x 140cm

I especially love the sculpture “La terre et la lune“.
You can count me definitely among Perego’s fans.

LoL, Sandra

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My outfit last Friday: 
Baseball jacket, striped pants and top by Balmain, patent shoes by Stella McCartney and bag by Gucci.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Photos with* are courtesy of Galerie Gmurzynska