14/10/2013

Adrian Paci | Lives In Transit

The anthological exhibition that PAC – Contemporary Art Pavilion in Milan -, dedicated to Adrian Paci (born in 1969 in Scutari, Albania), curated by Paola Nicolin and Alessandro Rabottini, is a show that leaves its mark. It is an emotionally touching experience, which retraces the different stages of the Albanian artist’s work, from the ‘90s, when he came to Italy, to the present day, reflecting his main subjects and his personal poetic vision.


Videos, photographs, drawings, paintings and sculptures are all artistic devices through which Paci creates narrations full of suggestions and social reflections, they are vehicles to explore the issues of politic transformation, wait, loss, nostalgia, memory, displacement, and above all, the strenuous research of a reference point; that cultural identity-seeking, which goes beyond the boundary lines and the physical movement by humans from one territory to another.

The exhibition path opens with Secondo Pasolini, I Racconti di Canterbury (2010), a huge wooden reel, depicted with scenes inspired by The Canterbury Tales directed by Pasolini – a homage to the relationship between painting and film in the works by the Italian intellectual – and goes on with Secondo Pasolini (Decameron, 2007) and Passages, a series of gauches, acrylics and watercolours on paper, board and clay all characterized by the close affinity and interconnection with the film. Paci’s acquaintance with painting pervades also his videos and photographs such as Centro di Permanenza Temporanea (2007), where he amazingly portrayed men walking to a flight ready to take off (one of his well-known pieces); The Encounter (2010), where the artist gets in contact directly with his audience shaking the hands of a long row of people gathered in an old square; and the powerful Electric Blue (2010): a 15 minutes videos telling the story of an Albanian filmmaker secretly providing tapes to a porn theatre to get money for his family, who decided, after the outbreak of the Kosovo war, to overwrite the sex tapes with scenes of slaughters and bombardments. It gives someone pause for thought when later, replaying one of the tapes, the young man discovers that fragments of pornography persist between war sequences.


The exhibition features also The Column (2013), a video installation that talks about the mining of a marble block from a Chinese quarry and its further manufacturing within a boat on a trip towards Europe for the production of a classical Western column by a group of Asian workers: a strong metaphor of the current transformation of traditions and cultures.

Lives In Transit is an emblematic example of the synthesis of the arts; an exhibition that, thanks to the direct, authentic (maybe due to its autobiographical part), symbolic, simply reliable artist’s approach, makes a lasting impression.


Monica Lombardi 
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14/10/2013

Trending: Barber Shop

Haircuts follow trends exactly as clothes do. Having said that, mustache and beard, symbols of modern hipsters or simply an aesthetic choice, are definitely in vogue right now. As a natural step forward, men from Europe to USA, started needing a specific place for taking care of their facial hair, and it wasn’t the case to visit a common hairdressers. That’s probably the main reason why the barber shops are back. Even though the technology in this field has reached high levels and grooming oneself has become easy – and very fast too – the original old school shaving is still perceived as an art form, and a virility ritual, too appealing to be ignored.



To feel like James Dean or Don Draper, one needs more than just a good barber: a comfortable and stylish leather chair, the small retro shaving tools and the typical barber’s poles, to mention the basics. It seems like it’s working for real: some of the traditional or pioneering shops even organize workshops to teach the interested how to perform the correct grooming ritual. Considered also as a meeting place for socializing, while choosing between the typical Italian grooming and the American one, barber shop is yet another proof that vintage strikes once again.



Francesca Crippa 
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11/10/2013

Where Rock is Born

From Glasgow to Bristol and everywhere in between, Britain’s music venues have played an instrumental role in the world of Rock’n'Roll, and that could easily be considered an understatement. Indispensable from the music scene, as one could not exist without them, they have played a vital, even crucial role through the simple act of cherishing and cultivating musical greatness. Whether it’s an arena, a palatial theatre or a sweat-scented club, a dingy pub or a loo-sized bar, it makes no difference whatsoever. The birthplace of copious rock-stars, in these temples of music, artists and music aficionados alike have found and continue to find a creative refuge and most importantly perhaps, a sanction to Rock.

Here are some of the most legendary British music venues to check out for yourselves. And although quite historic, as they can all boast having numerous superstars performing at their premises, they are also far from being dated, as they continue to nurture the best, most cutting-edge artists out there, as they have been doing for decades.


King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
Glasgow
A venue with a capacity of about 300 would usually be called intimate. But in King Tut’s case, we will call it tiny, as the acts it attracts usually play for crowds of thousands. Known as the spot where Oasis were discovered, Radiohead, Pulp and Blur have all been on the line-up. Furthermore, it has also been placed at number 7 on a list of 50 places to visit in the world by New York Magazine in 2006, Mount Kilimanjaro was number 9 on the list.

Rock City
Nottingham
With 3 rooms and a capacity of around 2000, Rock City is bang in the centre of Nottingham. Some of the first major acts on the bill have included R.E.M, The Cure and U2. While George Akins who took over the venue’s managerial duties at the tender age of 19, now 39, has seen Courtney Love roaming around naked backstage, and David Bowie arriving with a truck carrying four huge couches and a Persian rug for his dressing room.

The 100 Club
London
Open since the 40’s, the 100 Club has hosted most major Blues and R&B musicians, in successive years it hosted The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton and more recently Paul McCartney. Even Alice Cooper got to play a gig with his mate Johnny Depp in 2011. So it’s quite safe to say that the 100 Club is definitely legendary.

The O2 Academy
Brixton, London
From Prince to Marilyn Manson, practically everyone has played in the O2 Academy. And having hosted some pretty historic Rock moments, like the last ever Smiths show, it is one of the most well known legendary venues.

The Thekla
Bristol
With a Banksy art piece of the Grim Reaper in a rowboat on its side, Thekla is quite unique as a music venue, and not because of the Banksy piece but because it’s a boat, something that even the artists that are booked to play the venue fail to notice before showing up. In recent years the line up has included Mumford & Sons, The XX and British Sea Power.


Andreas Stylianou  
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11/10/2013

A Night in Antwerp

If one night in Autumn you find yourself in Antwerp, there are three things you can do. Before, though, leave your friend, your loved one or who ever else is traveling with you to the hotel and exit on the streets alone. Remember to put on a jacket: the North Sea with its storms is 56 miles away, which is not that far, and you’re indeed in the Northern Belgium – here, the least you can do is to protect yourself from wind and humidity. Don’t fear the silence: in spite of its 500.000 inhabitants, when the sun goes down Antwerp gets empty. You run the risk of feeling lonely and far away from home. Have courage. This is your night in Flanders and there are the three things to do to make it magical.


Visit the railway station. In Antwerp people call it “railway cathedral” for its majesty and aspect. Walk in its underground floors linked together with escalators and enjoy this masterpiece of modern architecture, in contemplation, as you were in a sanctuary. The railway cathedral, opened in 1905, is the fourth most beautiful station in world, according to the American journal Newsweek.

Go in search of hands. As the story goes, the name Antwerp derives from “Hand Werpen”, that is “throw the hand”, expression referred to the killing of the giant Druon Antigoon, who ruled these places in XV century, by the roman soldier Silvius Brabo. Brabo cut off the giant’s hand and threw it in the river Schelda. Since then, it became the symbol of the city. On the many monuments of Antwerp you’ll find hands everywhere, even in shops, shaped in chocolate candy. Go to MAS, the Museum Aan de Stroom, with the facade upholstered by hands of stone, and reach its top (this museum stays open until 10 pm). You will see the harbor, the majestic Cathedral of Our Lady and the Ferris Wheel illuminated.

Lose yourself in the streets of the inner city. In Grote Markt, the heart of Antwerp, you will find Silvius Brabo’s statue. You’ll find yourself surrounded by the houses in which, from XI to XII century, lived the local congregations, today occupied by shops and restaurants. Their fairy-tale fascination will add a magical touch to your lonely night in Flanders.


Antonio Leggieri – Images Stijn Hosdez, Sjoerd van Oosten & Antonio Leggieri 
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10/10/2013

Red Lips Through the Decades

The use of lipstick dates back to ancient times. During one period it was considered suitable for high society, and during another it was only to be considered acceptable for prostitutes. Dating back to 1770, a British law was proposed to the parliament, stating that a marriage should not be allowed had the woman worn lipstick before her wedding day. Times have somewhat changed, fortunately. But if we take a look at the 20th century until the present day, how has the wearing of the iconic red lipstick changed during the decades?

During the early 1920s, dark red lipstick was fashionable and was worn to form a cupid’s bow which was inspired by actress Clara Bow. Flappers wore lipstick to symbolize their independence. During the 1930s and 40s lipstick was very scarce due to the war, and young women and teens were discouraged to wear red lipstick as it was still associated with prostitution. By the 1950s movie actresses such as Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Elizabeth Taylor were wearing red lipstick and the glamorous Hollywood starlet look was born.



During the 60s, teens started to wear alternative colour lipsticks such as pale shimmery pinks, and even white became fashionable as it was used to make lips as pale as possible. Red lips were less fashionable during this period. The 1970s and 80s saw an introduction of black lips due to the punk and Goth subcultures, though Madonna’s red lips were symbolic during her tour in the 80s.

Today women wear red lipstick worldwide, and it has become a classic. It is probably the best loved beauty product portraying many different assumptions of the wearer; assertion, confidence, power, sexuality and prowess.


Tamsin Cook 
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09/10/2013

Skate: The New Black?

Amongst magazines’ pages, on the catwalk or simply as a mean of transportation during the fashion weeks: skateboard is definitely on-trend. We have recently witnessed the coming back of 90s fashion, not only wedges or cropped T-shirts, but also a more general grunge attitude. Comfy pants, large tees, Vans and snapback: the typical skater look is here.

From sport to fashion, the deck itself has become a fashion accessory some seasons ago, when famous brand such as Céline and Stella McCartney both exploited its appeal for their commercials. From that moment on, many photographers and stylists started shooting it as an accessory along with bags and jewelry.


The skateboard culture has never disappeared for real, since its very beginning – back in the 70s – kids from all over the world have been fascinated by the piece of wood with four wheels. The fact that the fashion world took something from a subculture and made its own, it is surely not a new phenomenon, but this time the all matter created a certain tension between the two – opposite – fields. Like when Marc Jacobs launched his own skates and on the web comments were negative, accusing him of having created an object for being hanged on walls rather than used on the street; or when last February Jeremy Scott was been charged with plagiarism of cult Santa Cruz graphic.

It seems like, even though this kind of trend has probably increased skate brands’ sales, real skaters keep sticking their nose up when they see models wearing heels on a deck.


Francesca Crippa 
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09/10/2013

Guest Interview n°49: Ed Templeton

In the occasion of his exhibition “A Gentle Collision” at Jerome Zodo Contemporary (until November 22nd), we met Ed Templeton, the versatile artist, professional skateboarder and founder/brand manager of the skateboard company Toy Machine. One of the cult figures of the US subculture, coming form the Southern California, tells us something more about his early years, his brilliant career and his perfect life, which he wouldn’t change for the world.

Who is Edward Templeton? If you have to describe yourself to someone who doesn’t know you, what would you say, which adjectives would you use?
It really depends on whom I’m meeting. I run a skateboard company, so I’m a business man, I’ve been a pro skateboarder all my life, since I was 18, so I’m also a skateboarder and also been doing art for a long time as well, so artist, skateboarder and business man. It depends on what hat I have to wear that day, these are the three words I use to say, but mostly skateboarder and artist.

To begin with the beginning, I’d like to ask you how it all started? The skateboard passion, the founding of Toy Machine and your artistic career.
It was 1985, I was around twelve/thirteen and finding skateboarding changed everything. I found the people around it, especially in the mid ’80s, they were mainly punk kids, and it wasn’t a cool thing to do as it is now. Skateboarding was a state of creative people and it is still full of creative people. I think Skateboarding in itself is a creative sort of thing. It is not a team sport, it is individual, there is no judgement, all sort of people can be good in different ways, there isn’t any standard way to be a good skateboarder, so the individuality and the creativity are involved in it as well.

The first kids I met when I found skateboarding were punk rock kids and I was scared, but they accepted me because I had a skateboard, which was the key, the opening. All I had to have was a skate. They were crazy kids. They said: “hey, come with us” and they gave me a tape of punk rock music and it just changed everything. I just found something that no one had. It was exclusive for me. Nobody at my school knew about this cool music and those cool guys cause it sounded like something weird.

It was soon after I discovered it, in 1990, that I turned professional skateboarder; it took me five years to become a professional; it was the same year that I started painting.


And when did you discover photography? Same period?
A little bit later. I’d been around photographers shooting pictures at me for the magazines. They always had their interesting cameras. I was interested in light, in how it works. I started learning from the people I was surrounded by. It was 1994; it took me four years before I really decided to go full on. I didn’t have a good camera, I took pictures while travelling, but in 1994 I really had a sort of epiphany: “What am I doing, I’m wasting four years of this amazing life, I’m travelling the world, I’m paid to skateboard, I’m around these people, the young, partying and going crazy. I should be documenting this because I’m the sober one”; I’ve never got drunk, took drugs or anything. I was the only one who was sober, so yea, I decided to take a camera and capture this, and then it turned to everything. That was my life! From that point I started creating a sort of archive.

Do you have any milestones or let’s say epiphanies? I mean, is there any person (real or fictional), book, movie, city that could be considered as a reference point or a source of inspiration in your life?
Yea, I mean again it comes from skateboarding. When I started getting into it, learning about its culture at large, like the magazines – I didn’t even know that there were magazines about skateboarding before – I found I was really fortunate as well. I mean, asking to every skater who the best street skateboarder of all time is… he is Mark Gonzales. A legend, he lived in the same beach where I grew up, so I got to see all tricks he did, and how he thought, he was crazy and he invented almost everything we do now; he had is own graphics on the skateboard and when I saw it, I decided: “If I have a chance to be pro, I would do that too. I wanna draw my own graphics!”, and I’ve been doing it since twenty years. So he had a big influence for me. Of course like in art, as a kid grown up in the suburbs, I hadn’t access to culture as the guys growing up in Los Angeles or especially in New York had. For me the culture came from the bookstores where I went to look at art books, and I found these books on Egon Schiele. When I was young I felt in love with that kind of work. I think that Egon Schiele inspired a lot of my early paintings… and David Hockney is another person who I really liked, his approach and his aesthetic. I was so enthusiastic about art, picture making, thinking about how a picture is built. All these kind of stuff is really interesting.

I’m also a photography book collector, and I think that photography more than other kind of art is about the book. You know, you hear about Picasso who has a famous show, a period of transition, but in photography you don’t hear about the exhibition, but you know about the book. For photography books are the greatest medium. Jim Goldenberg, Larry Clark, Peter Beard, some of those typical people representing the street photography… I can say, they write on the prints, make collages, cut the prints. It isn’t just about the perfect print, it’s mostly the opposite of those who print only and don’t touch the prints, but I love both, I mean, I strive to make a perfect image, but then if it’s not perfect you can fuck with it, you can do these things too.


What do you think about contemporary art? There are a lot of people convinced that everything has been already done in art, what’s your position?
Yes, in some ways everything has been done, but it’s all about the style approach, of course painting has been done before, but there’s so many different ways to do a painting, to approach a painting and its style. Actually I’m more worried about photography because sometime I found myself being attracted by something on the street that is almost a cliché now, everybody has already shot it before.

I mostly think about a way to approach photography in a new way because I’m still shooting in a very traditional way, I’m not doing anything revolutionary, I’m still shooting with a basic camera with film, the same things used 15 years ago. But when I present a work in a show, I try to do it in a different way. I have silkscreen, photographs; I have photographs with paintings, paintings on the background. These are the things I do… I have an archive and I think about how I can do it as an artist and not only photographer. I don’t worry about art. I think every generation has its artists; some people get forgotten, there are a lot of artists who get forgotten and a lot of artists who get discovered. But there is also a ridiculous side, ridiculous collectors and ridiculous artists doing crazy things that people buy and it’s all part of the game.

You mentioned that you are a bit skeptical of new technologies, is this the reason why you shoot analogue?
Well, I like analogue because the film looks better and it’s a privilege to be able to shoot films: it is so expensive and you have to be able to do it, and now, of course, everyone is switching digital so it is getting more interesting, it is like something new now because nobody does it. But then also Instagram is a tool; it is a powerful tool. I’ve found it, I’ve also discovered Facebook and they really help; I mean, if I want to promote a book or a show, that’s what really works now because it is what everyone is looking at. But I think I’m skeptical because I realize that everything you put on it gets out of control, can be altered, it can be duplicated and I try to make sure that I don’t put things that I want to keep for actions or for books. I think social media is a secondary thing but it helps, it is mostly a commercial tool to promote.

Do you still have any taboos?
Mmm, not really, I mean, the taboos are changing, I used to have a lot more sort of sex stuff, personal relationships stuff in my work and I found that most people just see that. You have like hundred something photos and the only one which people notice is the one with a penis, and you think: “fuck, a hundred photos and that is the only one you care about?” So I started to realize that sometimes the core of my message is not exactly the same one that the people are receiving, and that’s important to me as an artist. It is something to think about.

Could you tell us something regarding this show, and about the juxtaposition of the title words (Gentle/Collision)?
The title is the name of this piece, of this pyramid made of colourful photos, and for me it is a sort of gentle collision of painting and photography. This is the first time I was able to do a piece of the size of the wall. I had this idea of doing a big colourful pyramid; when this gallery invited me and I saw that they have big walls I said: “ok, now I can really do this piece” and this is the first time that I see it placed. My studio space isn’t big enough so I just had to make it and frame it and visualize it, so seeing it here to me is fun, you know, you have one idea and then you can work on it and you see it here. It is cool, I like it, and I’ll do it again sometimes.

Dulcis in fundo, could you make a list of the five things that make you feel great?
Travel, I love travelling, it always makes me feel great; knowing that you got a good photograph, I don’t always know, but sometimes you know it and it makes you feel good; really good vegan food; being with my wife of course… it’s hard to explain but there is a period when you do a show, it’s almost a personal period, it is when you end the last piece and you finish and it’s like the best feeling, a vision becomes clear, I have all my hands, everything fits, but it’s always a very short moment. After that the ball is on the other corner, people can look at it, respond or whatever they want… that’s my fifth one!

Monica Lombardi – Image courtesy: Portrait Vicky Trombetta, exhibition view from Jerome Zodo Contemporary courtesy of Luigi Acerra 
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08/10/2013

Close, Closer | Lisbon Architecture Triennale

If you are planning to visit the Lisbon Architecture Triennale in search for models, drawings and plans of buildings, this year, you’ll be in the wrong place. Titled “Close, Closer”, this year’s edition of the triennale curated by Beatrice Galilee with a team of international curators, has set itself a different goal. The official declaration of intents goes as follows: “Situating itself as an investigation into the expanding forms of contemporary architecture, and using the platform to position questions rather than presenting answers, “Close, Closer” presents five diverse poles of practice: Speculation, Intimacy, Dispersion, Agency and Pedagogy. Through a diverse, participation-driven programme, “Close, Closer” is considering the condition in which architecture is practiced and the way it is framed, expressed and understood today.”


In fact, “Close, Closer” is articulated through four main events, each examining a particular aspect of architectural production in unexpected ways. First among these is the exhibition “The Real and Other Fictions” curated by Maria Pestana. Set in Pombal Palace, which used to host the Spanish Embassy, among others, this exhibition consists of a series of projects whose goal is to examine the history of the building that gathers them. On the other hand, “Future Perfect”, curated by Liam Young, uses science-fiction as a model to engage in critical investigation about possible future developments of architecture. In fact, “Future Perfect” is an exhibition set in a fictional future city that invites visitors to wander through its hybrid forests and digital landscapes to explore possibilities and consequences of today’s emerging biological and technological research.


The third project, titled “The Institute Effect”, invites 12 different international organizations who actively deal with curation, research and promotion of architecture, to engage with a changing stream of activities held over 13 weeks, which will range from talks, debates and performances to exhibitions, hands-on workshops and projections. Lastly, “New Publics”, possibly the most challenging and yet most interesting part of “Close, Closer” is structured on an open stage placed on Praça da Figueira square in Lisbon as a physical platform designed to host presents a radically new programme of open-air sessions, speeches, workshops and guerrilla urban interventions. The programme frames voice as the main medium through which we create civic spaces and explores the theatrical public enactment of inspiring statements to reach broad and diverse audiences, whose success or failure will possibly also highlight the success or failure of “Close, Closer” itself.


Rujana Rebernjak 
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08/10/2013

A Funny Thing Happened

During the last few seasons the world of fashion has rekindled the love for the old 80s flame. Humor has once again become part of the runway. Whether it’s in the form of ironic statements or whimsical prints in a pop art kind of way, fashion seems to have developed a higher sense of humor. The question is why is this happening?

When looking at the SS14 runway shows, one can note all kinds of different humoristic touches. At Ashish the Coca Cola brand was used in a way that puts product placement in a new light, and can be argued to put an ironic spin to consumers’ brand awareness in an Andy Warhol kind of way. Devastée and Fay put forth childlike prints in the form of scribble and cartoon print. The cartoon aspect – being used a lot during the past seasons – could perhaps be viewed as a paraphrase of nostalgia, fragments of the childhood that have materialized into clothing.

At Moschino humor and whimsy culminated in a modernized Alice in Wonderland tale. Whimsy could also be found at Kenzo where a reference to fishing created not only humoristic but also a political statement. The humorous side of fashion gives another take on apparel and can be said to create a balance to chic and minimalistic silhouettes as well as discuss and materialize the changes in the world. Through humor fashion has also proved to possess an ambiguity that reinforces the creativity and power of the industry. It keeps things interesting.

By simply viewing the upcoming season, the use of humor in fashion can also be claimed to be a way of creating a pastiche of society, culture and memories. Referencing all type of artist, be it Andy Warhol or Lewis Carroll, clearly stating that the fashion world is more than just a surface. However it is important to keep the balance in mind and not go overboard. A joke that is too obvious isn’t that funny.

Victoria Edman 
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07/10/2013

Style Suggestions: Bombers are Back

A key trend for Fall Winter, the bomber jacket is a staple of urban style. Originating as a pilot jacket in WW1 it has evolved through time into what is a must have item in every man’s wardrobe today. Keep the rest of your outfit simple and let the jacket stand out as the focal point of the look. A plain white tee and bomber is timelessly cool.

Up left: A.P.C., right: Paul Smith, bottom left: Band of Outsiders, right: Maison Kitsune.
Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro 
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