Recently I came across the work of Swedish photographer Linus Morales. His “Fabfood” is really fun, my favourites are the Chanel sausages (no wonder being a German girl).
The Fabfood prints are available for sale. In edition of 100 c type prints (84.1 x 59.4 cm) signed and numbered by the artist, for 100£ plus shipping. If your interested in a print or have any questions, please contact the artist via e-mail .
LoL, Sandra
Photos: © Linus Morales
Today is Swiss National Day that is celebrated with fireworks and a public holiday.
August 1st is to the Swiss what July 4th is to Americans, or July 14th to the French. This day was chosen because August 1st 1291 was the date on which three Alpine cantons swore the oath of confederation, an act which later came to be regarded as the foundation of Switzerland.
So for me a good reason to honour our well-known Swiss designer Albert Kriemler (who is loved by Charlene de Monaco) and his Akris collection for F/W 2011. He seeked inspiration from the Vienna Secession movement which was best seen in the beautiful fall colours he used, from a golden yellow to caramel and russet.
My favourite is the photo print of architect and Vienna Secession founder Joseph Maria Olbrich’s Wedding Tower (Darmstädter Hochzeitsturm) that Kriemler put on dresses, shirts and a floor-length cape.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Vienna Secession movement, here is some more information: Also known as the Union of Austrian Artists, or Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs, the Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists, among them Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich and Max Kurzweil. The movement included painters, sculptors, and architects.
To all Swiss, Happy National Day!
LoL, Sandra
„To me, photography is an art of observation…
It is about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.“
-Elliott Erwitt
Recently I was invited by the Swiss private bank Clariden Leu to attend a very special soirée to celebrate the one year renovation of their headquarter on Bahnhofstrasse 32 in Zurich with the amazing exhibition „A World of Pictures“ by Elliott Erwitt. The photography legend had been flown in especially for the evening and it was a real honour to meet him.
Clariden Leu’s ‘Leuenhof’ was built in Neo-Gothic style between 1914 and 1915 and its impressive art gallery is the ideal venue for art exhibitions.
Olivier Jaquet, CEO Clariden Leu, gave an introductory speech and Birgit Filzmaier, owner of the gallery “19th & 20th Century Fine Art Photography” (the place to go if you are interested in Elliott Erwitts’s work) the laudation.
Elliott Erwitt with Mike Baur, Clariden Leu’s new Head Private Banking Switzerland
“Elliott Erwitt’s Best Picture? The Next One.”
Elliott Erwitt was born in France of Russian émigré parents in 1928. His formative years were spent in Italy. At the age of 10 he moved with his family to France afterward immigrating to the United States in 1939.
Grace Kelly, New York City 1955.
„It was pure luck. Luck is essential in photography.”
-Elliott Erwitt
Distinguished as both a documentary and commercial photographer, Erwitt has taken some of the most memorable photos of the 20th century, including portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly, as well as astonishing scenes of everyday life, filled with poetry, wit and a special sense of humor. Famous for capturing absurd split-second moments and subtle glances, Erwitt’s work is truly masterful. He likes children and dogs.
Jacqueline Kennedy, at the funeral of JFK, Arlington 1963
Dog Legs, New York City 1974
In 1953 freshly decommissioned from military service, Elliott Erwitt was invited to join Magnum Photos as a member by its founder Robert Capa. To date he continues to be an active member and one of the leading figures in the competitive field of photography.
Elliott Erwitt is said not to like talking about his photos as they talk for themselves. In the conversation between him and Ettore Gualtiero Robbiani, Clariden Leu’s art specialist and curator of the in-house private art collection, Elliott Erwitt’s evident sense of humour showed in his very witty answers and made him perennially quotable. Enjoy!
Elliott Erwitt, welcome to Zurich. How are you?
Most of the parts are working!
I have to confess I am really fascinated by you. What is this egg about?
Everybody has a tag here and I felt lonesome having no tag.
You are an eyewitness to history and a dreamer with a camera. You took some of the most memorable photos of the century. Where do you see your cultural roots?
Photographers don’t need to have roots.
Do you ask for permission taking somebody’s photos?
You never ask for permission. You shoot first and hope that they don’t realise. In Japan, it is very easy to be a photographer because everybody is. In Muslim countries it is hard as nobody likes their picture to be taken. In France, they have privacy laws, if people see themselves in the magazine, they can sue you if you don’t have a permission.
Couple Kissing, Santa Monica, California 1955
Have you been sued ?
I was sued by people who thought that they were in the picture but they weren’t.
How did your interest in photography raise?
Because of family circumstances, I was on my own since the age of 16 and I had to make a living. Taken photographs was a good way. You don’t have a boss. My only permanent job that I ever had was with the US military army. Everything else has been freelance.
Did you like the army?
I didn’t mind it.
Did you have your camera with you?
Always. I took some of my best pictures when I was in the army.
What is today your favourite camera?
I don’t have a favourite camera. I divide between my professional and personal work. For clients, you have to use the tools you need to achieve the results that your clients expect. For my own personal work, I walk around with a small camera, my Leica usually and that is quite seperate. One thing is for business, one thing is for hobby.
Miami Beach, 1962
And talking about influences? What were your early influences in photography?
My early influences were Italian films after the war, neo-realist films of Fellini, Rosselini, people like that. That was my main influence and apart from that the photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson which are the gold standards in my view of photography.
When it comes to being influenced you named Edward Steichen as a mentor. How did he influence you?
He didn’t influence me, he was just very helpful at that time. I was very young and I could use some help. He got me my first job by calling somebody up. He could do that, he was a very powerful man. My influences were as I mentioned before.
You once said that photography is a craft that everybody with normal intelligence could learn? But to take it beyond the craft is when the magic comes in? How do you actually approach your magic moments in a photo? Is it all staging, set-ups?
I don’t get up in the morning and expect to do magic. I think that magic is in the eye in the beholder. You don’t plan things. Good photography is not planned unless it is work which is planned. Photography which is interesting to me is simply an art of observation, organising elements, making fine prints.
Marilyn Monroe, New York City 1956
Coming to magic moments. In your career, you portraited Marilyn Monroe. I tend to say that you showed her in a different way than we know her. How was Marilyn as a person?
I was afraid that you asked that. I am always asked that question. She was very nice, very photogenic. She looked better in pictures than in real life. Also she looked pretty good in real life as well. She was a sensitive person, a little bit nuts. She was very kind to me.
Whom of the famous persons that you met was meaningful to you?
Famous people are ordinary people that became famous. President Kennedy, Fidel Castro, of course that is interesting. Those people are very historic figures. And the problem of taking a picture of those famous people is exactly the same than taking it of ordinary people.
When you mentor young photographers what are looking for in their work?
Visual sense, application, a kind of burning ambition because it is very difficult to succeed in photography. Digital photography makes it easy to become a photographer but hard to become a good one. So you look for energy, for perserverance, and as I said most importantly for visual sense.
Metropolitan Museum, New York City, 1988
What about ego? Do you need a strong ego?
A strong ego gets generally in the way of things. People don’t react very well to people with a strong ego. If you have it, keep it private.
Who is your favourite photographer living or dead?
The ones that are in my agency Magnum. Henri Cartier-Bresson is the champion of them. There are some that are very promising. Photographers who work for the passion, those are the interesting ones. The ones only on assignment are not the interesting ones, they are just earning a living.
Do you collect yourself?
I am not a collector. But I have exchanged with some of my friends.
57th Street Gallery, New York City, 1963
This year, you received the Infinity Award 2011 for Lifetime Achievement from the International Center of Photography. Can you please describe what it is like to receive that honour? It is the lifetime Oscar of photography.
It is a little bit embarrasing. It seems like your life is over. You get a nice dinner, a little statue, people think that you are okay. But it really shouldn’t influence you that much.
You son Misha is a photographer as well. When he told you about his future plans, how did you react? What advice did you give him?
Get a dayjob! But here is an amusing anecdote: When my father retired, he decided to become a photographer because he wanted to follow in his son’s footsteps which I thought was very sweet.
Thank you Mr Erwitt for coming!
Thank you all for showing up! I couldn’t imagine that I am that interesting.
What an honour: Elliott Erwitt with me.
LoL, Sandra
Most of us might be in the mood for art, the Biennnale, Art Basel just in front of us, so much to be inspired from. Have you ever dreamt of carrying your favourite piece of art around with you? Here is your chance to explore wearable art. Meet Des Artistes:
The Munich based label is an eco-and socio-conscious line of conceptual printed tees featuring work from notable and emerging contemporary artists. The T-shirt becomes a canvas upon which to inspire and explore the human spirit.
Launched in 2009, Des Artistes reflects a creative mindset that is fueled by contemporary art. Every season the brand showcases artists from a range of backgrounds, genres, ages and cultures to maintain its ongoing evolution. Every artist is acknowledged on every tee, rightfully so.
Des Artistes strives to use the finest organic and sustainable fabrics in combination with super low-impact waterbased inks. The aim is to make awareness with real art that inspires. To that end, a portion of sales will benefit a different charitable organization each season.
Below you can find some of my favourite tees:
108 (born 1978) is an Italian artist in the field of street art from Alessandria.
108 has moved from working in traditional graffiti art to painting large and mysterious figures that invade public spaces. He was one of the first writers to use numbers instead of letters for his name. He started to work when he was a child on the streets of Alessandria, and used different names. His work has appeared on the streets of Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, and New York City. His first works known by people are enigmatic “blob”-like yellow shapes. It is his firm intention to make visual chaos. His new works are labyrinths, dead trees, 3D objects and installations, but especially black and gloomy shapes.
“My art is about following my impulses as to what I feel is beautiful, interesting, and poetic.”
– Franco Mondini-Ruiz
The son of an Italian father and a Mexican mother who grew up in San Antonio, Mr. Mondini-Ruiz gave up a law career to become a full-time artist in 1995. His first works were installations that favored kitschy found objects, then smaller assemblages of same. Accessibility, portability and spontaneity were key concepts.
Invited to be in the 2000 Whitney Biennial, Mr. Mondini-Ruiz sold objects on the street in front of the museum, some of them made on the spot, for 10 cents to $10. A few years ago, he took up painting in earnest, determined to initiate people into the joys of art collecting and also to bring different communities into contact with one another. He staged shows in Charlotte, N.C., San Antonio, Rome and Florence, selling quantities of paintings for $99 or 100 euros each in a few hours. Demand never exceeded supply: if someone wanted a painting that was already sold, he would make a copy, guaranteeing that it would be ”as good or better.”
Charles Anderson is a painter whose work plays with the relationship between art, its context and those by whom it is viewed. His paintings explore art’s role throughout history and the ever-changing importance of painting within the art world.
Charles incorporates a diverse range of techniques to create layers of imagery taken from aspects of popular culture: newspaper headlines, beer bottle labels, nightclub flyers and fashion among them. The results are rhythmical paintings which provoke more questions perhaps than they answer, constantly challenging the viewer’s senses and understanding of what constitutes art. Does a fabricated relationship create the image or does the image define the relationship? In the end, it is the viewers who decide by drawing whichever connotations of modern life are relevant to them. The work of this award-winning artist is included in international collections, including British Airways.
Elvira Bach is a Berlin-based artist. In 1982 at the age of 29, she was invited to participate at the documenta VII, one of the most important modern and contemporary art exhibitions. Many of her works have been strongly influenced by her time spent as an artist in residence in the Dominican Republic.
A recurring and central theme in her sensually bright and vigorous paintings is the woman in her sexually-determined existence. It turns out that the similar-looking women depicted in her paintings is Bach herself. In 1978 she began to paint self-portraits often disguised as still-lifes, using an array of utensils and accessories with which she defines herself as a woman. Explicitly erotic elements dominated her work in the early 80s. In the late 80s, her work began to transform to a more reserved style.
Proceeds will be donated to SOS Kinderdorf / Children‘s Villages.
For my Zurich based readers, I recommend a visit to Nina Arnold-Shah, owner of Kids and the City. This week on Tuesday, June 7th and Wednesday, June 8th, she is having a very special Shopping Spree at her house where you can explore those amazing designs among other great stuff. For further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact her on her mobile +41 79 768 37 23.
See you at Nina’s!
LoL, Sandra
Fondazione Prada announces the opening of Ca’ Corner della Regina presenting the project of OMA/Rem Koolhaas for its permanent venue in Milan and a selection of works from the collection, kicking off a project that will promote cultural exhibitions, research and study of contemporary artistic languages and more.
The show, which opens on 1 June to coincide with the Biennale 2011 in Venice, will feature works from the Fondazione’s collection, including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Louise Bourgeois, Blinky Palermo, Bruce Nauman, Pino Pascali, Donald Judd, Francesco Vezzoli and many more.
Since its beginnings in 1993, the Fondazione Prada has left deep traces behind and today aspires to make more leading into the future. The exhibition “Fondazione Prada – Ca’ Corner della Regina” is curated by Germano Celant and definitely worth a visit.
LoL, Sandra
Exhibition details: Fondazione Prada – Ca’ Corner della Regina
Open days: Wednesday, June 1; Thursday, June 2; Friday, June 3, 2011
Public opening: Saturday, June 4 to Sunday October 2, 2011
Bally, which celebrates its 160th anniversary this year, came up with a very practical and cute idea: The Bally-Rina collection. Consisiting of matching totes and ballet flats, it epitomises effortless summer flair and versatility. Available in a range of understated summer colours, the bags and shoes retail for CHF 275.- each and are available in-store now.
I especially like the Bally-Rina logo that is inspired by the artwork from an original Villemont poster housed in the archive of the Swiss brand. Bernard Villemont (1911-1989) was a French graphic artist known primarily for his iconic advertising images.
LoL, Sandra
Bally Pink Shoes
Bally Kick
KUNSTHALLE ZÜRICH IM MUSEUM BÄRENGASSE
BRUCE CONNER
2. APRIL – 29. MAI 2011
Bruce Conner (1933 – 2008) was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines.
Conner first attracted widespread attention with his moody, nylon-shrouded assemblages, complex amalgams of found objects such as women’s stockings, bicycle wheels, broken dolls, fur, fringe, costume jewelry, and candles, often combined with collaged or painted surfaces.
He also began making short movies in the late 1950s. Conner’s first and possibly most famous film was entitled A MOVIE (1958). He is said to be the pioneer for today’s MTV’s music clips.
Museum Bärengasse, Bärengasse 20-22, CH 8001 Zürich
One lady blended in perfectly.
I’ m wondering if Dolce & Gabbana seeked inspiration from Conner’s works Untitled (1976) and Untitled (1973) for their leo cardigan…
Two chameleons: Dorothea Mühlemann with me in front of an oeuvre by Bruce Conner.
Yesterday, I went to a ladies art luncheon to the the exhibition above. It was truly remarkable to see all those beautiful handbags the guests were carrying. You might have figured this out already, but I am a handbag addict and obviously I am not alone.
Hermès and Chanel models were spotted most, followed by Fendi’s Peekaboos. Enjoy the photos I took and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post that has a lot do with a woman’s obsession for handbags.
LoL, Sandra
Hermès
Hermès
Hermès
Chanel
Chanel
Chanel
Chanel
Fendi
Gucci
Chloé
Balenciaga
Miu Miu
Louis Vuitton
A sparkling gift from a good friend…
…and a vibrant catch from St. Tropez.
Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
I desire, therefore I am.
Sisley’s art project continues. This time, the fashion brand has joined forces with Italian illustrator and comic book artist Milo Manara for a limited edition S/S 2011 capsule collection, including T-shirts, tops, skirts, shorts, handbags, shoppers and sneakers for both genders.
Portraits, illustrations and whole comic strips starring his provocative heroines come to life on Sisley’s clothes and around the wearer’s body. Black-and-white prints, sometimes with sparkling elements, and colour prints faithfully reproduce different drawing techniques, from chalk to acrylics, to recount the adventures of numerous female characters.
The collection will be available in a wide number of Sisley shops and sold in dedicated shopping bags.
Good news for my Milan based readers, Milo Manara, will be the guest of the brand’s store in Piazza San Babila on Thursday, May 5, from 5 to 7 PM and sign the limited edition T-shirts.
LoL, Sandra
This weekend, I went to see the exhibition of Jani Leinonen, one of my favourite artists, at Galerie Gmurzynska. The Finnish 33 year-old rising star presented nothing less than the kidnapping and execution of Ronald McDonald at Paradeplatz in Zurich.
„The Hamburger company’s advertising figure is a symbol of capitalism and also a clown. That’s what makes it interesting to me as an artist“, says Leinonen.
Jani was good for groundbreaking headlines in the beginning of this year when he and his friends calling themselves the „Food Liberation Army – FLA“ stole a Ronald McDonald statue from a McDonald’s restaurant in Helsinki.
In an Al Quaeda-style video, they staged the beheading of the famous symbol and tried to force the American chain to answer some questions about how it produces its products. The fast food company refused any dialogue. The videos of the kidnapping were viewed more than 700,000 times on You Tube.
Leinonen, who definitely knows how to play the game, is nevertheless a true professional when it comes to markting himself. He even has bigger plans to set up a park full of Ronalds but McDonald’s refused to sell him the statues.
The charming guy from Helsinki took the idea of a funeral even further. Tombstones with iconic Louis Vuitton logo prints or the packaging of YSL Paris were placed in the beginning of the exhibition. I have to admit that I had never thought about how my tombstone should look like, assuming it will hopefully take a long time until it is needed, but I am absolutely tempted to have some logo print going on there.
Jani Leinonen with hotelier Andrea Kracht and his wife Gigi, who exhibited his enormous cereal box installations last year at her famous Art in the Park event in the beautiful garden of the Baur au Lac.
Leinonen has three main objectives for his future: First, he wants to create a piece of art that will be stolen one day from a museum. Second, an artwork of his should be so good that it will get copied in Shanghai. And last but not least, he wants to become so famous that Damien Hirst’s mother knows him.
Pretty cool! And probably not so unlikely… I am better keeping the inscription he wrote for me. It might be worth a fortune one day.
LoL, Sandra
Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
„Every time you look at a great painting, you’ve literally took a piece of the artist’s soul.“
– Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone with me in front of his artwork "Best of Life", 1989, which is my absolute favourite, a collage of fan letters.
This morning, I attended a very interesting opening at the well-known Galerie Gmurzynska in St. Moritz in the presence of the artist himself: Sylvester Stallone 35 Years of Painting. In case that you are wondering, I am talking about the “Stallone”, the “Rambo”.
The exhibition is a retrospective of his work. About 30 pictures will be presented, documenting different periods of Sly’s creative work.
The famous actor has started painting in his teens. His early pieces, which he signed “Mike Stallone”, were experimental. Due to financial reasons he then worked as an author until he started a career as an actor. In 1976 he made his breakthrough as “Rocky”, started painting again and continued to do so until today. During the seventies and eighties, Stallone’s art was very expressive and morbid. Amongst others, his paintings were influenced by the death of his manager to handle the stroke of fate. The work he made during this period was graphic, flat, often brightly coloured and still quite illlustrative.
"Finding Rocky", Mixed media and artists frame, 1975
A change in his style began 1989/1990. He got deeper into art, studied closely contemporary art and painters like Picasso, Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer. He looked into abstract work of Mark Rotho and developed a unique style for himself: He produced expressive, profound and expressionistic works, sometimes modified self portraits, sometimes pictures playing with words.
Smooth strokes instead of hard blows…
"Best of Life", Mixed media and artists frame, 1989
"Best of Life", Details
Donald Kuspit, one of America’s most renowed art scholars, wrote an essay about Stallone’s art in which he states that Stallone is no longer acting or pretending when he is painting, but honestly and openly himself. He is no longer Rambo , the straight-shooter who never misses, or Rocky, an everyday guy who made it, but in search of his missing self – the self he may have lost when he played those proud creations. His paintings are more emotionally realistic than his unrealistic heroes.
"Never Ever Land", Mixed media and artists frame, 2010
Stallone told Donald Kuspit that the cutting of the frames symbolizes the cutting of frames and scenes from his movies by various editors. It upset him greatly, which is one reason he does not completely frame nor edit his paintings –does not hem them in.
"Hercules O'Clock", Mixed media and artists frame, 1991
The artworks will be exposed at Galerie Gmurzynska in St. Moritz from February 19th until March 15th. Subsequent to the show in Switzerland, Stallone’s art will be exhibited at the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. The prices for Stallone’s artworks are approximately between $50.000-$150.000.
Photo: Richard Avedon
Stallone is a very impressive and expressive man with a voice that is truly to die for. The father of five children will turn 65 in July and is said to have an IQ of 141.
He was very sweet and answered the question if he could imagine to start painting with Arnold Schwarzenegger like this: „Wouldn’t that be something?! Arnold paints, too but he is not showing his artwork to the public. I painted once with my wife, but this was already complicated enough…”.
In 1995, he modeled for Gianni Versace to promote his new home collection. The photos were taken by Richard Avedon and I still love that one of Claudia Schiffer and Sly both stripped down.
A little trip down fashion memory lane…
LoL, Sandra
Photos: ©Sandra Bauknecht