Girlband, Godspeed, Skelton, Braxton and Copeland are releasing new music. Soon.
Nikita Gale: Archaeology, Anthropology, Advertising and Art
Originally based in Atlanta, Nikita Gale is an artist making a name for herself in America’s burgeoning and increasingly diverse art scenes on both the East and West coasts.
Up close and personal at Fashion Scout
When ROOMS were invited to check out the Fashion Scout, Ones to Watch show, and go behind the scenes, we jumped at the chance.
On the fashion map: The US Deep South
With NOLA Fashion Council serving as a platform for Southern based and born designers, the Deep South is well and truly gaining momentum and establishing its position on the fashion map.
Addictive TV present: Orchestra of Samples
On Thursday, 26th February, production duo Addictive TV are bringing their unique brand of sampling to the Rich Mix Studios in Bethnal Green.
WE LoVE: 5 exciting pieces at MoMA Design Store
Shimmer Table
Patricia Urquiola
Made from iridescent glass with a light reactive multi-coloured finish, the small tripodal table reacts with light, allowing the surface tones to flicker, depending on the viewer’s vantage point. Because the table is lacking in construction materials, it has a graceful nature about it, the shifts in colour lending it an ethereal, magical energy. Elegiacally contemporary the Shimmer table is brilliant in both its concept and physicality – Patricia Urquiola has created a complex, yet strikingly simple and very liveable piece.
Gramovox Bluetooth Gramophone
Pavan Bapu
With bold, yet timeless steel/walnut design this piece was inspired by the exceptional style of the 1920s horn speaker. Combining modern aesthetics with a reminiscence of the characteristically crisp sound of vintage, the Gramovox offers the full package. If you are up for a bit of analogue nostalgia here’s the piece for you.
The EggTM
Arne Jacobsen
The Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen, has become a household name. Jacobsen designed the Egg™ for the lobby and reception areas in the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, as a sculptural contrast to the building’s vertical and horizontal surfaces. The chair is a classic piece of design furniture from one of the all-time greatest aesthetic engineers, the importance and influence of which is undying – as is the status of this cult chair.
La Chaise
Charles and Ray Eames
La Chaise was originally designed in 1948 as part of MoMA’s International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. Inspired Gaston Lachaise’s sculpture ‘Floating Figure’, this voluminous lounge piece has a captivating sophistication and allows a wide range of sitting and reclining positions. The iconic clean lines and simple design of the piece allow it to fit numerous interior designs and to never go out of fashion.
Hope Pendant Lamp
Francisco Gomez and Paolo Rizzatto
It’s hard not to fall for this piece, dazzling as it is with its series of thin polycarbonate Fresnel lenses to achieve a dioptric effect similar to glass. Much like the diamond, which inspired its name, the Hope lamp multiplies the light from the light source, recreating a glittery and brilliant atmosphere. Reinterpreting the magic of traditional lamps with sophisticated technologies and contemporary materials, the Hope lamp achieves an enviable effect in any setting.
Can't wait for Spring: Edwin SS15
Edwin’s classic denim has cultivated new elements and washes into the Spring/Summer 15 collection. Making sunlit appearances are checks and stripes, together with camouflage and leopard print, SS15 is cut for a casual day out as well as some intrepid strolls in the woods. Tapered jeans with low crotch fit have provided more definition to spontaneity for the urban minds. Knitwear is also a must on the list for springtime. This season light knit jersey will be accompanied by appliqué detailing. A variety of choices in patterns and fabrics, SS15 is here to enhance the functional while referring to the casual undertone, but it never fails to impress.
Atomos by Random Dance at Sadler’s Wells
As a choreographer Wayne McGregor is not just ground-breaking, he is more like colossal. The Artistic Director of the company which bears his name, the Wayne McGregor|Random Dance, is notable for creating choreographies at the limit of what the human body is capable of achieving through performance. Hence this frontier between mind and body is one of the features of McGregor’s work that often resonates in our senses.
Atomos is a piece that reflects on the nature of the human body and the shape of its movements. The choreography is enveloped by the music of A Winged Victory For The Sullen, a tailor-made suit, builds surprising forms in expansion, complex contours and curved lines which produce esoteric shapes.
In short, Atomos is essentially a spectacular piece of visual and plastic art which releases a symphony of colours, thanks to magnificent lighting design by Lucy Carter and costume design by Studio XO, all highlighted by the appearance of 3D displays by Ravi Deepres in the heart of the show. Superb set.
Everyday Illustration: Paola Saliby
I'm a Brazilian illustrator based in Sao Paulo. I've been illustrating for three years in publishing and advertising. I also work on my personal projects, create portraits and custom wedding invitations. My dream is to do a master degree in Europe, expand my work worldwide and have my own illustrated book published.
My ideas come from simple things, like people on the streets, some experiences I have during my day, a book or a movie I saw. In my illustrations I like to explore prints and patterns, creating interesting and exciting textures and I also like childlike themes very much.
I love working with analogical tools like gouache and watercolour.
Creativity is a very complete subject. It's about using perception, logic and sensibility in order to analyse things from a different point of view. It’s something that with dedication everybody can develop throughout life.
Paola Saliby
We like Designer MARTINE ROSE
“NEW BEAT GENERATION – ADRENALIN – LONDON DANCE”
PACO POMET’s Surrealist Visual Games
Playing with vibrant colour, absurd details and shifts in perspective, Paco Pomet is an artist that demonstrates a propensity for surrealism, successfully converging fiction and reality in his oil paintings.
Pomet’s interests lie in exploring the grey area between the commonplace and the absurd –subverted landscapes and portraits borrow from sepia-toned vintage photographs resembling historical documents, the degree of manipulation of these sources varying from subtle to explicit and unrestrained.
Previous exhibitions include Shipwrecks, shown in Copenhagen’s Bendixen Contemporary Art gallery with works showcasing Pomet’s playful and oneiric style:
“Paco Pomet's paintings are visual games. At first sight they show a recognisable environment, but before long, the imitation of reality tips over into an illogical narrative that draws on the symbolic language of Magic Realism…. The author, as he has always done, invites the spectator to enter an exercise of interpretation where the constructive elements of the images are divested of all conventionality.”
Unambiguously titled Obra Reciente (‘recent work’), Pomet’s most recent exhibition in Madrid’s My Name’s Lolita Art gallery sees the artist tackling industrial progress as it took place early in the twentieth century.
Modifying source material from American municipal files, Pomet comments on civilizational regression, evident in the wounds inflicted to the landscapes portrayed – ‘Rojo’ (‘red’) depicts felled trees with their insides exposed and the workmen responsible flecked with a red element suggestive of blood. ‘Fin de siècle’ shows prospectors basking in the golden glow of the new century’s roman numerals, those of the last eerily looming over them in the background wooden and grayscale; the images are tainted with proleptic irony, the onslaught on the environment that would take place over the next century evident to all but those portrayed.
Completing a Fine Arts Degree at the University of Granada in Spain, Pomet went on to study at the School of Visual Arts in New York; He currently lives and works in Granada.
Paco Pomet
GUILLAUME PANARIELLO
– Post Production Perfection
Ballade Pour Une Boite De Verre (A Ballad for A Box of Glass)
An electronic bucket roams around an empty room
For the love of music and anime: VICTOR JARDEL
I'm a 27 years old French, I live in Paris. I spent 5 years in a Parisian graphic school and made 2 short films with my friends Eddy Loukil and Ghayth Chegaar there -- I was mainly focused on the animation, and listened Senbeï's music in a loop.
After I started to work as a freelance animator. And one night when I went to see Smokey Joe and The Kid playing live (a group former by IRB and Senbeï), I wanted Senbeï's autograph on my newly bought album, just like all fans… but I got to talk to him about my job. I told him that I really wanted to make animated music video. Our collaboration started there.
I started this collaboration with the clip Robbery Anthem Song: a universe had already created in my mind by its sound. I stayed in contact with my friend Eddy Loukil and told him (as an also Senbeï's fan) he could help me to make that clip. So the Grey Monkey Production was created.
We made another clip together for Smokey Joe And The Kid (with Senbeï so) Slow Drag.
I made videos for Senbeï's live then, but Senbeï wanted some simple visuals, so I did it on my own.
Then Senbeï wanted me to make the clip Rain. I really wanted to make live video and feature my characters in 3D. It is a type of video that I really wanted to have in my portfolio. So I went filming in some corners of Paris I like.
It took me 2 months and a half to complete that video (including the inspiration time and the pre-production). I would like to have much more time, but I saw this small leap like a challenge.
My main inspirations come from Ghibli’s universe (the productions studio, Princess Mononoke, Le Voyage de Chihiro ...), Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, and some draws I make.
The art is for me the expression of our dreams or nightmares. My creativity comes a lot from my nightmares, I’ve had some sleeping troubles for a while and I think that affects my ideas. I can't complain much because it helps me with work and I love my work.
SS15 Illustrated: Our favourite fashion illustrators
Though fashion illustration has slowly been on the decline since the late 1930’s with the emergence of photography, nothing can replace the ethereal and timeless beauty of a detailed hand sketch, which has the power to utterly bring a design to life.
Admired as an art form, there is something so incredibly charming about a detailed reportage illustration, which translates an artists unique interpretation and impression.
Whilst only playing a small role to the contribution of magazines and advertising, there is still a role for the craft in the industry. Stylish sketches are particularly illustrious in the blogosphere, esteemed by fashion power houses, and regarded as collectable pieces of art.
From minimalistic pencil sketches, to bold, striking shapes which play with form and proportion - fashion illustrators have the freedom to pour their artistic style into the essence of their work and to inspire us with their distinctive visions.
For each of the fashion capitals, resident illustrators are commissioned by SHOWstudio to create a series of original sketches. Some elegant, some playful, some focusing on one detail in particular and others balancing light and dark, but all strikingly unique with their signature styles.
Among my favourite fashion illustrators is London and LA based Velwyn Yossy. Distinctively associated with elegance and style, as SHOWstudio's resident London Fashion Week S/S15 illustrator, Yossy has produced a series of original artworks inspired by womenswear collections including Burberry, J. JS Lee, and Issa. Using a mix of clean lines and bold colours the artist pushed the boundaries conceptually with her unique interpretations.
Working in paint, noted for her bold striking splashes of colour, Australian contemporary figurative painter Abbey McCulloch, named as one of ‘Australia’s 50 Most Collectable Artists’ by Australian Art Collector in 2009, illustrated the many runway styles from Paris Fashion Week. McCulloch depicted looks for Louis Vuitton, Viktor and Rolf, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Balmain, Givenchy and Sonia Rykiel to name a few.
In complete style contrast NYFW was documented in the simplistic and fragile signature style of Victoria Kim, the New York born and raised artist who has worked for publications such as Visionaire and V Magazine. Kim depicted the key runway looks from shows including Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang and Gareth Pugh.
The bold graphic work of Damien Florébert Cuypers is also especially recognised. Capturing New York Fashion Week with “impressionistic portraits of the fashion set” as noted by The New York Times, his colourful sketches in his signature crayon style which jump from the page give evidence to why this exquisite art should always have a place in the fashion industry.
From haute couture to street wear, to depicting runway styles and fashion personalities, there will always be a space for the art form of impression drawings in the industry, no matter how advanced technology becomes. Illustration will continue to thrive with the help of these talented artists.
Introducing new age multi-media platform: OPENLAB
In a world where supply and demand is ever important and where the supply side of multi-media representation is ever increasing, staying unique and ahead of the game is essential. We had a look at newcomer multi-media platform OpenLab to see what the new kid on the block has to offer.
Trance-genre Godfather Robert Miles, the internationally acclaimed DJ whose track 'Children' sold over five million copies, founded OpenLab with the objective of creating a premium multi-media platform offering the “now-and-the-next” in music, design, art, technology, architecture and ecology – on demand.
The self-proclaimed ethos of would-be ‘hostess-with-the-mostess’ OpenLab is a promotion of possibility and diversity in output, without compromising quality or the ambition to bring about all that is most desirable in “tomorrow’s world…today”. It is a boutique concept and compared with larger, more detached streaming platforms such as Spotify it may well offer users and artists alike a more personal experience. What really sets it apart from its competitors is what seems to be a carefully curated assortment of various modes of artistic expressions.
The OpenLab brand has a rather couple of ahead, launching a curated music service and digital download store, a subscription streaming service, a social network, and finally opening a creative space in Ibiza for collaborating artists. With astounding visuals and a strong portfolio the platform creates a unique use of music and visual content online, perhaps pioneering the way for a new era, in which we witness a comeback of the radio. And, in doing so, which achieves another important goal – “broadcasting the spirit of Ibiza”.
The OpenLab community, whose partners include household names such as International Music Summit, IBZ Entertainment, Ghostly and Rough Trade, now boasts more than 700,000 users in 140 countries and numerous of the world’s best independent record labels, musicians and visual artists.
‘One Glance Backwards’: CHRISTINA PETTERSSON and the Modern Myth
With a diverse body of work and a penchant for bygone art, Miami-based artist Christina Petterssonlooks back in order to look forward.
Nouveau in Paris: Selected Galleries
With Paris only two hours away from London by train...
MQT Jeans - Highlights of this season
Founded in 2008, built based on the principles of quality and authentic european manufacturing - ‘MQT’ which stands for ‘Mastering Quality Tradition’ is a family run company, driven by family spirit.
Created by three generations of manufacturing expertise, extensive knowledge is what inspires the brand identity. MQT is a specialist denim brand that constantly searches the continent for cutting edge design and finishing treatments - garments are vigorously checked and produced to the highest standard of quality.
The brand has built up a legion of fans for their raw, industrial chinos and denim collections, and is working to become globally renowned.
MQT jeans range from £29.90 for the Outlet range, to £120 for the Premium, and stockists include Selfridges, Flannels and Asos to name a few.
KENZO release 2015 spring/summer campaign
By Alyss Bowen
Parisian fashion house KENZO joins forces with the artists from Toilet Paper Magazine on their fourth collaboration for their spring/summer 2015 ultramodern advertising campaign.
Released in three chapters, Toilet Paper created a cityscape scene with a nod to the future through over-saturated vibrant colours and geometric designs.
Captured by the Toilet Paper collective, photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari, artist Maurizio Cattelan and art director Micol Talso. The campaign lends inspiration from the bright and futuristic, showing an optimistic paradise where the models run riot.
The first chapter shows the two ‘hero’, models Mona Matsuoka and Qing He, in their modern, concrete jungle. The simplest of the three chapters we are able to see the real essence of KENZO, with the new collection showcased effortlessly.
The second chapter portrays a magical, mysterious playground. The two heroes stomp through the high-tech city, with their giant like limbs, grabbing buildings and asteroids and imitating puppet shows with KENZO accessories.
The third and final chapter is based upon a child’s fantasy. Toilet Papercreated a 3D origami world in which the KENZO kids play with dinosaurs, skate on planets and explore the waters of a secret island.
The spring/summer campaign is instantly recognizable as a KENZOadvertisement. The consistently modern brand reflects both the bright and the future through their collaboration with Toilet Paper.
It sits perfectly in between being a piece of fashion advertisement, and artist reflection and showcases their men’s, women’s and children’s spring/summer collection in an animated dream.