London Art Fair 2012

The London Art Fair opens its doors today at the Business Design Centre in Islington, with the participation of 100 galleries and 1000 artists. The premier art fair is for once more showcasing the best from modern art in the 20,000 sq ft location fo BDC in two sections:

Twelve Calendar

Berlin Fashion Week is starting today, so i suppose we are all anticipating for the great avant-garde capital city to reveal its new gems for next winter. One of the week's hottest projects is the Twelve Calendar, a collaboration between Derzeit Magazine and photographer Lena Emery, showcasing 12 of the best new models and labels from Berlin.

Born Sleepy by J.W. Anderson

J.W. Anderson's menswear collection for next fall is called Born Sleepy, and has big retro vibe with amazing knits, graphic prints, flared pants made out of tech materials and a bright colour palette. I just love the brand's spooky, ironic campaign, shot by Alex Sainsbury, featuring model Oliver Greenall from Elite London.

Taste.IT

Milan's Men Fashion Week is ending today. Have a look at its coolest boys posing for Luca Finotti's camera during the castings.

The Empire of Death

For three years Dr Paul Koudounaris, a specialist in Baroque culture and lector at major universities in Los Angeles, travelled the world to document various religious shrines decorated with human bones, crypts and remains from the sixteenth and seventienth centuries.

 This gorgeous video comes from Helsinki, directed by genuine artist Miika Lommi, featuring the music of Femme En Fourrure. A mix of Scandinavian purity with touches of fluo colour.


Femme En Fourrure - Plump Bisquit from miikka lommi on Vimeo.

 Andreas Fux is a Berlin-based photographer who started his career shooting for fetish and underground magazines.


Fetishism, extreme piercings and huge tattoos are the main themes of his work, with quite shocking images of young people in bloody situations or with body-jewellery that incline a bizarre combination of pleasure and pain.



 His images cannot be considered as glossy or mainstream, there is a total lack of fashion consumerism and decorative elements, but as simply personal body stories.



Besides portraits, Fux's rich work includes amazing location shots and interesting pictures from his travels.


 Fux is also an author and his work is regularly shown in Berlin.
 Bellow you can have a look at one of his exhibitions in Berlin back in 2002:



www.andreas-fux.de


 A short black & white video from photographer Simon Procter with Dior Couture S/S 2011 moments.


simonprocter.blogspot.com
www.dior.com

 Zhang Huan is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York, well-known for his provocative performances. His art includes photography and sculptures as well, with monumental pieces made of copper and pictures drawn with incence ashes from Buddhist temples. 
 His performance pieces are mostly inspired by subjects like the human body, Buddhism, animal instincts and earth with a masochistic touch, often rising the question "is this art?" Huan is the main figure in all his perfomances, always naked, under strange conditions, covered by insects or earthworms, or even lying on ice, using body painting as a way of expression and teaming with other perfomers to create impressive human installations.


 One of his favourite themes in sculpture and photography is Buddhism,creating huge hands and feet based on broken fragments of Buddha statues he found in Tibet. Naked human bodies are also seen often in his works.



Huan's work has been featured in several solo and group exhibitions in major cities and great galleries around the world.


Have a look at this interesting video with Zhang Huan talking about his awsome art:


www.zhanghuan.com

 A beautiful experimental video by Nikos Koumoundouros, inspired by the Cinema Pur movement.

Music by the Avant Garde group BRAC (Between Ravens and Crows)

 The Paris Couture shows have just started and the Maison Martin Margiela team presented one of its best collections so far.



The Artisanal concept is based on old garments and objects gathered  from all over the world, given a second chance to become something new, unique and fascinating. All pieces are handsewn and their manufacturing may take up to 170 hours of work.
 The Spring/Summer 2011 collection is inspired by flowers in prints,colours and shapes.

 The collection consists of geometrical dresses, boleros combined with simple bodies and overalls.

 The variety of materials used is huge: iridiscent leather, cotton poplin, Liberty fabrics, taffeta,polyester,crepe, silk and lycra adorned with sequins made of plastic bags, pearls and coq feathers.The colour combinations are also impressive: blue, fuschia, orange and candy pastels.


All images courtesy of Maison Martin Margiela.


www.maisonmartinmargiela.com

 Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas celebrate 10 years of collaboration with an awsome interactive show presenting the Y-3 menswear collection for A/W 2011-12.
 Models marched on a treadmill installation, overlaid with film footage of open roads and valleys. At the same time there was a presentation of the film This is my Dream, a documentary about Yohji Yamamoto and the preparation of the collection, directed by Theodore Stanley.


The presentation also included an impressive colourful exhibition of Adidas for Yohji Yamamoto footwear.
 

 The collection is inspired by nature and the concept of escape including blazers, trenchcoats, parkas and high boots in army green. At the same time there was a burst of japanese prints on bomber jackets, shirts, knitted leggings and sarouel pants.
 The accessories line includes printed sneakers, white Chelsea ankle boots and wool trapper hats.

 All pictures courtesy of Y-3.
www.adidas.com