Tanaami Brings Us New Pyschedelic Artwork
Keiichi Tanaam, a commended pop artist of Japan, has recently put together a gallery that will have you astonished.
Keiichi Tanaam, a commended pop artist of Japan, has recently put together a gallery that will have you astonished. The artist continues to put new art work out for the public, and has been since the 1960’s. Art is a way for people to express themselves and each artist is a kind of their own. Tanaam seems to lean towards the psychedelic side, his work is bold, vibrant, and will make you feel alive.
Tanaam displayed a new show at NANZUKA, a gallery in Tokyo, which is also known as “Memorial Reconstruction”. The art portrays his memories of a child living during World War II, and expresses them through psychedelic art on canvas and in forms of sculptures. His art should be appreciated, as it takes some of his darkest childhood memories and turns them into a beautiful form of art. The artwork also illustrates unique creatures and subjects inspired by Japanese manga and Western cartoons.
In one of his new paintings, he illustrated the Japanese superhero Ultraman with the American comic Nancy created by Erner Bushmiller. The superhero Ultraman reflects his memories and the war bombings in Japan. Tanaam also constructed unique sculptures and creatures, reminiscing on 20th century American magazines. The gallery is open until August 8th, you’ll be in for a ride, and if you can, I would recommend checking his one of a kind artwork out.
Report: Emily Andrews
Frieze New York's Online Debut
Frieze New York 2020 took the form of a virtual art fair.
Frieze New York is an international art fair that balances prestige with the elevation of lesser-known talents. One section of Frieze, Spotlight, showcases non-Western art from obscure artists; Diálogos, on the other hand, is a section that celebrates Latin/Latinx and Latin American artists. Regardless of section, however, each art display is extravagantly presented, with exquisite gallery presentations prefacing more ostentatious exhibitions.
In the year bedeviled by the coronavirus, though, Frieze New York was forced to take a different approach to their signature event. Thus, Frieze New York 2020 took the form of a virtual art fair. The fair’s online presence was initially intended for further communication between art dealers and their clients, and now the event has shifted entirely to a digital format for the very first time. Nonetheless, Frieze New York 2020 remains an impressive collection of more than 200 international galleries housed by multiple online viewing rooms and supervised by the art dealers themselves.
Some truly noteworthy examples shine in an already spectacular assortment of masterpieces. The late Keith Haring’s sleek, majestic brushstrokes are on display in a nameless 1982 piece, which is being sold for $3.2 million. Hauser & Wirth are in possession of one of George Condo’s coveted isolation drawings, this one worth $2 million alone. Ultimately, Aquavella Galleries has the fortune of selling the most expensive work of all, an acrylic and oil stick on canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat, for $5.5 million.
Since everyone with internet access is invited to partake in Frieze New York 2020, the fair will awe a much wider audience with its lavishness, all while exposing them to a new world of artistic talent.
Photo credit: https://hypebeast.com/2020/5/frieze-new-york-online-basquiat-haring-condo-most-expensive-works
Report: Nia Hunt
The Fashion Concepts of Imitation and Differentiation
Trending fashion is an element of life that will never cease to turn heads; duplicating brands that they love or celebrities they admire.
Trending fashion is an element of life that will never cease to turn heads; duplicating brands that they love or celebrities they admire. Consumers have a tendency to imitate what they know works. As creatives develop new silhouettes, patterns and styles, the masses flock to these looks yet, people still desire to be considered trendsetters. While following fashion’s guidelines, people still want to deviate from the norms of fashion, aiming to make them truly fit them, finding ways to be individual while being accepted by society. This duality lives within everyone from designers like Tom Ford being inspired by Halston; everyone gets inspiration from others then finds ways to elevate it.
One can recognize this cycle of trends throughout fashion history, as people resurrect and reimagine old fads and subcultures diverge from popular trends but mimic one another. These concepts in fashion dualism are the brainchild of German sociologist Georg Simmel; his interest in the ways people think and relate to society led him to question how people come together through fashion. Simmel recognized that fashion is not simply black and white with consumers falling into two categories of imitate or differentiate. but that humans can do both simultaneously.
If we looked at the revolving door of fashion trends, from the 90’s skater skirts to Y2K’s midriff obsession, the styles and pieces that are worn on the runway and on the streets are in homage to some part of fashion history. As people unknowing parade the fashions of the past, they also add a twist to the style to make it more current; therefore, imitating the past while looking to the future of fashion. Evaluate skinny jeans which are considered a closet staple. These tight fitting pants were inspired by the rockstar tight leather pants that performers like Aerosmith would wear through the 70’s and the 80’s era. These silhouettes of these skin tight pants are nothing new to consumers but the fabric choice designers have decided to use is what makes the imitation diverge from its leather origins. Skinny jeans are more wearer-friendly than leather, giving people an accessible option to looking like their favorite celebrities. This exemplifies the ability to both imitate and differentiate in society, and spurs some of the most popular fashion trends.
Overall, it can be stated that there is this dualism within everyone. People have the ability to develop and create new looks while being inspired by the things around them. The need to separate from society is also what creates unique subcultures that enrich our history and push fashion forward. From the 60’s hippies and beatniks to the 90’s punk crowd, these groups with “radical” mindsets used fashion to differentiate themselves from society. Yet, as they banded together, they began to imitate each other's styles and their fashion was a signature of their community. Through this dualism of fashion, these sub-groups were able to differentiate and unify.
Report: Taylor Beth McKenzie
Alexander McQueen's Plato's Atlantis: A Show That Defined a Decade
Alexander McQueen's Plato's Atlantis: A Show That Defined a Decade
On October 5th, 2009, Alexander McQueen premiered Plato’s Atlantis, a show that embodied innovation from its very inception and was the dawning of a new era of fashion. Built from an already unique premise, the Plato’s Atlantis show itself was a milestone in fashion history, all while becoming intertwined with the burgeoning fame of pop legend Lady Gaga and pioneering the consumption of fashion through various technological advancements.
Hosted on Nick Knight’s ShowStudio platform, Plato’s Atlantis was the first live-streamed fashion show. Further cementing its icon status in online culture, Lady Gaga, who had already cultivated a sizable following at that time, promoted the show via Twitter, attracting so much of her fanbase that ShowStudio’s server crashed.
The content of Plato’s Atlantis continued to enthrall viewers with a narrative of humanity returning to the oceans after having devastated the earth, visualized through the combination of snakeskin and sequins to symbolize the harmony between nature and fashion. Lady Gaga bolstered the show’s success once more, as this was the venue in which she first performed the song that would become a massive hit, “Bad Romance”. She wore the famous McQueen “armadillo shoes” during that performance and would feature them in the music video for “Bad Romance”.
Fittingly, this historic landmark occurred at the turn of the decade, preceding the emergence of social media platforms, online campaigns, and live-streaming that made the intricacies of the fashion industry more accessible to wider audiences. Plato’s Atlantis was Alexander McQueen’s last show before his tragic passing, but it has been immortalized by how profoundly it has revolutionized the online world of fashion.
Source: https://www.vogue.com/article/alexander-mcqueen-spring-2010-platos-atlantis
Report: Nia Hunt
At the rise of Covid-19 many of us first questioned the timeline of fashion week and would we see the regular calendar continue - the question weighed over many of us for months! It was refreshing to see design houses and designers across the globe take advantage of the uncertainty and plow into production mode - thus my interest in Jerri Reid New York - The Black Designer based in Brooklyn New York wow’d instagram with his latest collection paying homage to the Black Is King film which debuted earlier this year in July. I was taken aback at quick of a turn round the young designer produced and released his well crafted designs reflecting some of the films most memorable moments.