Fashion Cupcakes

So, I'm back! I've emerged from the depths and am back to blogging. Since my last post, I've become the domestic queen and have discovered two new hobbies- baking and knitting. I've been going baking crazy and I discovered these fashion cupcakes when looking for inspiration. Fashion and food don't normally go hand in hand, but here the two combine beautifully.


These gorgeous cupcakes were styled by Lisa Edsalv and shot by Theres Aldgard. My favourites have to be the Agent Provocateur cakes as they're just perfectly suited to the brand- saucy, fun and oh so glam.

Visionaire

Visionaire is a magazine with a difference. In fact, I don't know if you can even call it a magazine. It's described as a 'multi format album of fashion and art produced in exclusive numbered limited editions'. Whatever it is, if you buy it, you're officially too cool for school. It's published three times a year and each issue features a different format and theme. Famous artists from the fashion, design and art world collaborate with each issue, making each one completely unique. With a volume costing around £135- it doesn't come cheap. But they always sell out fast.
Issue 26 (above) had the theme 'Fantasy'. A round box held pieces of round, unbound artwork. Featuring work from Tim Burton and Victor & Rolf, it also included a mask designed by Hermes.
To celebrate the 50th issue, 'Artists Toys' came as a collection of ten toys by ten different artists that sat in a white tray with a silk screened clear cover. Each toy took the form of a Russian doll, housing another two, within it.
Issue number 54 'Sport', is now available and you can you actually wear it. Using special printing technology, photographically printed Lacoste polo shirts feature work by artists including Nick Knight, Phil Poynter and Karl Lagerfeld to name a few. This issue is available in four different sets, each housing three collectable shirts.

Click here to visit the website, where you can see more of its amazing issues.

Little People

In one of my earlier posts entitled 'Mini Polaroid People' I found some cool photographs of tiny figurines, but I didn't know who the artist was. I'm chuffed as I think I've discovered who it is. The mystery artist is called Slinkachu.

He's a street artist who positions these little people around London. He creates amusing situations, photographs them then leaves them to survive in the big wide world. Slinkachu says, "It should be a universal kind of feeling that you get living in any big city when you're just one tiny person living among millions of people. It is that kind of feeling that most people feel at one time or another, where they feel a bit lost." He says, "I don't often check back on them once I've placed them on the street. If I do, I usually find that they have long gone." I'm not surprised- they're so tiny, I wouldn't mind betting that half of them get stuck to the bottom of people's shoes. It's a real shame as they'll either be destroyed or most people will walk by without noticing them. But I guess that's the charm of it. For the few people who do discover the real life situations, it's a rare wonder.

Luckily for us, Slinkachu posts the photos on his blog, allowing us to appreciate them, thereby making them immortal. Check out his blog at http://little-people.blogspot.com

Gregoire Alexandre

I've recently discovered the work of Gregoire Alexandre and I'm already a huge fan. He's a French photographer who's work features in various fashion, design and music magazines. These include, Wallpaper, Esquire, Liberation, and GQ, to name a few. His work is playful and composition is always his main focus. Experimenting with scale, natural and man made objects, clutter and clean, his work often resembles large scale art installations.
To see more of his work, click here.

Photography Takes On Art

I came across this extraordinary fashion shoot by the photographer Michael Thompson for Italian Vogue. He's incorporated photography with 2D painting, using the style of Matisse as his inspiration. I was looking through Matisse's work and came across his piece, Odalisque's, 1928. The image below, must have been inspired by this piece as the resemblance is striking.

Odalisque's, 1928

I'm not quite sure whether these were created using Photoshop or if they were cut out and hand painted. Whatever the method, the bold colours and brush strokes of the paint combined with the detail in the photography creates a surreal and striking effect.

Odalisque In Red Trousers, 1924-1925

You can see more of Michael Thompson's work at: http://http://www.jedroot.com/

Forever 27

I saw this exhibition at the weekend when I was wondering through Camden.  It's at Proud Galleries and is about the "27 Club"- a group of rock stars who have all tragically died at the age of 27.   Apparently it has over 30 members- all musicians that have died at that age.  The exhibition focuses on the five most notorious rock stars: Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.  Featuring some of their most iconic images, the exhibition celebrates their extraordinary, short lived lives.  As you learn about each artist, you can't help but feel dispirited by the tragedies surrounding these talented people.  

What is it about the number 27 that has such a mystery around it?  I did a little Google research on it, and it is quite the strange one, with lots of meaning around it.  It's the cube of 3 (3x3x3), if you add up the numbers between 2 and 7, the sum is 27, there's 27 letters in the Hebrew, Greek and Spanish alphabet, 27 books in the New Testament, the moon takes 27 days to orbit the earth...the list goes on and on.  Anyway, it's quite bizarre and keeps popping up in all sorts of unexpected circumstances.  Google it and have a look. 

Mini Polaroid People

I found these images on http://www.ffffound.com and I think they're really intriguing.  They were an entry to a polaroid competition, but I don't know who the artist is.  The shallow depth of field creates an obscure feel, focussing your attention on the miniature characters.  The person that made these wee little people must have had tiny fingers- they're microscopic!

Photo of the Day

http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/

This website records the life of Jamie Livingston, a filmmaker, who in March 1979 decided to take a polaroid image for each day of his life. It's a fascinating visual diary that captures images over 18 years. It's intriguing yet you can't help but feel a bit voyeuristic, looking through his personal photos of friends, family, holidays and ordinary days. Images range from happy snaps, to abstract, all changing with the times and fashions. But throughout is the constant, reliable frame and fuzz of the polaroid. In 1997 the photos start to take a dark turn when images of the photographer in hospital start to appear. Then, on October 25th the photos end- he has died from a brain tumour. Although, the series ends on a shocking, sad note, the overall feel of the album is fun, heartwarming and moving. It's a beautifully simple way of recording life with each image saying so much.

Bela Borsodi

One of my favourite artists of the moment is the still life photographer Bela Borsodi.  He looks at objects in a whole new light, challenging our perception of them by giving them personality.

His work is always imaginative and often humorous.  Being in the world of fashion, it's a refreshing change to see some fun injected into a fickle industry that takes itself so seriously.  

In his series "Foot Fetish", featured in V Magazine (above), he visually explores the way high heels change the shape of the female body and sexualize it.  He looks at how the body fits the shoe in an exaggerated way by playing with shape and proportions.  Rather than doing it on Photoshop, he shot the nude models, cut out the prints then placed them within the shoes.  I love the way he's transformed shoes into these surreal, striking images and brought attention to the connotations associated with shoes.

You may recognize the image above which was shot as part of a series of ads for Selfridges.  If you want to check out his work go to: 

http://www.art-dept.com/artists/borsodi

Beggars to Exiles

While I was in San Francisco, I popped into this great little art gallery called the San Francisco Art Exchange. It's located on Geary Street which is crammed full of lots of lovely independent galleries (and obviously a dozen Starbucks- you just can't get away from them!!) This exhibition follows the Stones' evolution and captures the rock n roll lifestyle that you can only dream of having. It's based on the photography of Michael Cooper and Dominique Tarle. Michael Cooper captures images from 1966 to 1970, while Tarle's images are from 1971 when the band recorded "Exile On Main Street".

The exhibition not only features The Stones, but the women that influenced them including, Marianne Faithful and Anita Pallenberg (seen above). While we were looking around the gallery we got chatting to one of the art dealers who kindly showed us parts of the gallery that weren't available to the general public. We were taken to the store room that had stacks and stacks of original artwork from bands such as Pink Floyd to Yes. It was amazing!! The stuff in that room must have been worth millions. If only I could afford a square inch of one of those prints...

Found Magazine

I popped in to The Photographer's Gallery and came across this cool exhibition by Found Magazine. The idea behind the magazine is pretty simple. They collect things that people have found such as letters, photos and all sorts of objects. There's an entertaining mix of wierd, hilarious and beautiful stuff. You get to see snippets of stranger's lives and it's fascinating! I don't think the exhibition is there anymore but check out the website at http://www.foundmagazine.com/