Let's be still, be still for awhile 
There's no place I wanna be
Lose our way and sit side by side
Passing time so carelessly, so carelessly (here)

 

New works: Collected by Jason Koharik,  
Opening Reception Nov 9th


"All the while, I was continuing to meet people that were interested in design. I would find them some rare or interesting piece, and in many cases, that led me to their homes where I began dressing them, and custom building/designing pieces for them. I do enjoy putting a room together. Finding balance both visually and with their life style and interests. I also get to turn people on to things they would otherwise never consider or designers they are not really aware of.  I am, I suppose, self taught on much of what I do, (metal working, weaving, leather work, sewing, electrical, wood working), mostly out of necessity. I don't know how else to get it done "


Read a past interview with Jason Koharik here.
all photos by David John 


















. . .

"o much of what I do I feel is collecting. Even the way I learn to do it is a collection of mistakes and break


"So much of what I do I feel is collecting. Even the way I learn to do it is a collection of mistakes and break throughs. Most of my works, paintings, sculptures, are made from materials that have taken 10 -15 years to collect. Examples being: Paintings made from hundreds of used paint stir sticks creating large linear color fields. I have collected what seems like miles of lost or acquired steel and cloth tape measures to weave large canvas inch by inch.

Collected by also refers to my love of "hunting". I have a collection of furniture, lighting, designer, rare discoveries, and things that inspire me. Some I reupholster, some I re-purpose. Some are so far gone I turn them into something new. I also collect old scrap leather, a material I am very fond of. I reuse this (hand stitched) on old bent metal chairs to give them a new life. I love to collect the unusual. The pieces passed by because they no longer have a place. Some of them are just better used as something else. Potential energy."   - Jason Koharik

 --------2 becomes 4--------

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"Viewers were free to further transform the spaces by scratching, writing, and marking the pristine yet vulnerable material with whatever was at hand, leaving individual traces that were soon subsumed into the accumulated mass of marks that the space became."

Rudolf Stingel
October 16 - December 22, 2012 
4 rue de Ponthieu 75008 Paris

Central to Rudolf Stingel's oeuvre is the passage of time rendered palpable, together with the expansion of the vocabulary of painting and its perception: from the abstract tulle silver paintings of the 1990s to the carpet installations that aestheticized both the surface of spaces and visitors' traces; from the series of melancholic self-portraits to the latest gold studio-floor paintings.

Casting and plating large sections of graffiti-covered Celotex insulation panels, Stingel has produced opulent paintings that both celebrate and memorialize the passage of time. The original panels for these paintings come from the environmental installations of his mid-career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Whitney Museum in New York in 2007. In each of these renowned participatory works, Stingel transformed the exhibition space by covering the walls in a layer of reflective aluminum-faced insulation material. Viewers were free to further transform the spaces by scratching, writing, and marking the pristine yet vulnerable material with whatever was at hand, leaving individual traces that were soon subsumed into the accumulated mass of marks that the space became. The new works are selected fragments of those inscribed walls cast in copper via a process that captures even the most delicate surface detail. The cast base is then electroplated with gold, transforming the random inscriptions alchemically and permanently into something new and shamelessly beautiful. (text images taken from here)

1-----leads ----2---and eventually --- 3

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"It is more just the small things, like that candelabra that I got from Adam Blackman of Blackman Cruz, the half moon. I love just the fact that I could change anything here at any moment. For me a beautiful object is like, I love that chair, and if I found a different one, then I would put it in my store, and let someone else love it.

That is the idea of the store. I mean I know it is probably smarter, or more marketable, to say “We sell California mid-century modern; Come here for that.” But I am looking to see where this goes and I like change, I really do....   I like feeling things. So physical things are there for a moment, but they could go away at any time."  - Coryander Friend, set designer

Earlier this summer, I worked on a story for Berlin-based magazine, Freunde von Freunden. I'm honored to have worked with Daniel Trese the photographer on this story.  Daniel and I spent the early morning up in Laurel Canyon with Coryander Friend, while the intense summer sun slowly came to full force. Thank you to Coryander for welcoming us into your home.

The full interview and photographs can be seen here.

With a background in poetry and art from the Buddhist-inspired Naropa University, Coryander Friend has a natural ability to sense and feel her surroundings, and then translate them into the physical world. The day we sat in her Laurel Canyon home, she told me “It’s energy, it’s just energy and we are hit with so much information, that to me, the space around me, the space that I can control, is important to me psychologically, it keeps me sane.”

In addition to working as a set/production designer with film directors Mike Mills (Beginners) and Errol Morris, Coryander has recently opened Storefront LA, a gallery and vintage store in a warehouse district in Los Angeles, while she also just launched her line of jumpsuits called Parachute. Storefront will allow her to offer her flea market finds and the works from the community of furniture designers, artists, potters and storytellers she surrounds herself with.

- David John
read entire interview here on FvF 

Do objects allow you to feel? 

Coryander: Yeah, (big exhale) big time. That’s really how I feel. I mean it’s weird, but how something is placed in a room is really how I communicate with the room. It’s hard for me to be in places that there is a bad spatial scenario happening. It’s energy, it’s just energy. We are hit with so much information, that to me, the space around me, the space that I can control, is important to me psychologically. It keeps me sane.

(excerpt from the FVF interview)

Did you collaborate with the set design on Beginners, or were those your visions?

It was very much a collaboration between Shane, Mike, and myself. Because the story was so personal, we ended up going to his sister’s house and his house, picking Mike’s parent’s actual furniture that they had collected, including art, books. Really the whole thing. Then we pulled a lot from my house, because we really didn’t have a lot of money. So we were like let’s take this from real life. Mike and I were neighbors at the time in Silver Lake, so we were shooting all in our neighborhood. I would literally just walk to the set. and we were shooting in a house right between our two houses. I would have to run back to my house and think, what would Hal have in his house that I have in my house (laughing). And so it was really organic.

Did he rent the home for the shoot? 

The one that he shot that was Oliver’s house was a neighbor’s house that he rented for the location. The house we shot for two weeks in, which was the house where Hal grew up, that was a Neutra house in Griffith Park. It’s where they shot L.A. Confidential and lots of other films. It’s an amazing place.

It was really an incredible film, I was surprised by how much I felt it.

Yeah, it was really heartfelt and Mike put a lot into it. He had lots of references for us to watch different movies, of course Woody Allen’s Manhattan. He is so well thought out, he had a book put together of visuals that he had been working on for two years that we all poured through, with colors, everything. Everything in that movie was so thought out and I was so pleased that people really got it. I wasn’t sure that they would actually understand it, because the aesthetic was so personal. It flowed together in our minds, but I really did not know if people would get it. I had no idea that it would be so successful.

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"In this it is to be noted that Vincent Fecteau seems to color his sculptures less artistically, but rather applies paint on them in the way a housepainter treats walls or rooms. Mostly with relatively blunt, muted emulsion paint. Any spatial effects, shading, or even permitted stains or dirt seem to derive from the repertoire of a painter for stage designs. "

"Deepest light, the secret lies 
Wishing well gives you all that you desire
 Homes and trains, and the greenest of plains 
That you ever happened upon The silent wish, it calls you out 
Calls you out by name Lays upon the plain, on the mountain high" - B. Mould

Vincent Fecteau has so far always worked on a group of sculptures at the same time over a rather long period. He develops the final form through handling the material and only rarely and in small details does he work from preconceived ideas or sketches. In the past the creative process was determined by a core form determined by the material, for example an inflatable beach ball, or boxes to which he then applied layers of papier-mâché. These first layers were removed, cut up, re-assembled and in this way became the formal basis for numerous further formal modifications, until he arrived at the final shape of the sculpture. The coloring of the sculptures too goes through many different stages. In this it is to be noted that Vincent Fecteau seems to color his sculptures less artistically, but rather applies paint on them in the way a housepainter treats walls or rooms. Mostly with relatively blunt, muted emulsion paint. Any spatial effects, shading, or even permitted stains or dirt seem to derive from the repertoire of a painter for stage designs.

Galerie Buchholz
Vincent Fecteau  Fasanenstraße 30, Berlin (text from here)

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a room in which to breathe (modernism)
aka
The mess I’m looking for


"(Thomas Houseago) His sensitivity both to the art of the Renaissance and the masters of Modernism, as well as his own innovative approach to figurative sculpture."
 

1. Hauser & Wirth is proud to present ‘The mess I’m looking for’, an exhibition of works by Thomas Houseago. ‘The mess I’m looking for’ will act as the third part in a trilogy of exhibitions comprising Houseago’s debut show with the gallery, with ‘I’ll be your sister’ and ‘Special Brew’, opening at Hauser & Wirth London, Savile Row on 7 September. For his first solo show in Switzerland, Houseago will present a new, large-scale figure and a selection of wall works, including reliefs and masks. Together, these works showcase Houseago’s vast range of influences, from the abundance of nature and the sculpture of non-Western art to the superheroes and villains of comic books and cartoons. Houseago’s interpretation of these subjects highlights his sensitivity both to the art of the Renaissance and the masters of Modernism, as well as his own innovative approach to figurative sculpture.

2.  "Even now, his work is not as well known as it deserves to be. Critics have never agreed where to place him. Some describe Charles Rennie Mackintosh  as a prophet of modernism; some call him an apostle of Art Nouveau. But, in fact, Mackintosh approached every building, every room, as if he were composing a different poem, using his imagination to create something special and whole."

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Fall Reading: Interiors Atelier AM
by Alexandra Misczynski and Michael Misczynski, 
Text by Mayer Rus,  Photographed by Francois Halard,
 Introduction by Axel Vervoordt 

"Enter a world of interiors by Atelier AM, where classical proportions, varied finishes, and exquisite furnishings are masterfully combined, resulting in bold yet tranquil environments. A deft hand at creating interiors that mix materials, both rough-hewn and luxurious, antique and modern, marks the work of Alexandra and Michael Misczynski, the husband-and-wife team behind the Los Angeles–based firm Atelier AM. Only ten years after establishing their business, the couple has garnered a keen reputation for creating environments that are sensory experiences—visually sublime interiors enhanced with subtle, textural palettes. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture commingle with modernist pieces and ancient objects. Background colors and materials are muted and refined. Interiors Atelier AM showcases a selection of residences—each exhibiting the firm’s skill at mixing furniture and objects with backgrounds such as antique flooring and Venetian plaster, with bold and modern results. Their high-profile clients include Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise and the Michael Eisners. The photography of François Halard beautifully documents each project, educating and inspiring a new generation of interior designers and connoisseurs.


About the Author Alexandra and Michael Misczynski are the team behind the renowned Los Angeles–based design firm Atelier AM. François Halard is an acclaimed photographer who contributes to numerous lifestyle periodicals and books. Axel Vervoordt is an antiques and art dealer in Belgium. Mayer Rus is the design and culture editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. (text taken from here)

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Aaron Silverstrein 
@ Hedge

"I was born in a cloud...  Now I am falling.
 I want you to catch me. Look up and you'll see me. 
You know you can hear me.  "

"The most recent piece is a small bronze end table that I am extremely happy with. 
 It was a few years in the making and went through countless variations." 

- Aaron Silverstein, more work here


A song is not the song of the world 
And shadow's not the sight of the world 
A song is not the song of the world 
And shadow's not the sight of the world

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"To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Kimbell in its iconic Louis I. Kahn building, Adam Silverman has created three site-specific vessels that will be installed in the Museum’s southern interior courtyard during The Kimbell at 40: An Evolving Masterpiece and will be featured in this gallery talk. The vessels are made entirely of materials that have been harvested from the area around the Kahn building and from the construction site of the new Renzo Piano Pavilion."

"The original, 1972, Kimbell building is one of Louis Kahn’s finest buildings, one where many of his ideas about architecture are very clearly expressed. It is also regarded by many in the art and museum world as one of the best museum buildings in the country. In October 2010 construction began on a new Renzo Piano designed building at The Kimbell Piano’s just-begun addition to the Kimbell. The two buildings will be connected underground for staff, otherwise they will be freestanding buildings facing each other across a small grassy park. And behind the original Kahn building is The Fort Worth Modern Art Museum, designed by Tadao Ando and opened in December 2002. Kahn was a very influential figure on both Piano (who worked for Kahn briefly in the 60′s) and Ando. Kahn’s influence is evident in the work and writings of both architects, and I think both felt the pressure of Kahn’s presence when designing their buildings for this site.  For me as an architecture student, and then young architect, each of these three architects were very influential. And each of them continues to have a presence in my practice as a potter. So to find this opportunity to try to engage with the three of them, while they engage in their own conversation with each other is very exciting and intimidating and scary."

- Adam Silverman, more info here.

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Piet Boon's Kent Lounge Chair
@Lepere, New York

In an industrial, refined loft space, LEPERE showcases a collection which closes the gap between continents with innovative designs from Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain. A purveyor of excellence, the showroom is exquisitely curated and boasts products by such design laureates as Jean-Marie Massaud, Patricia Urquiola and Piero Lissoni, among others.

"all the modern things like cars and such have always existed
they've just been waiting in a mountain for the right moment"


LEPERE delivers a multiplicity of options merging technology with artisanal craftsmanship, creating an environment for the way we live that is current and timeless. Contract quality and hearth-worthy, LEPERE offers a selection of versatility and endurance which is ready to permeate through home and garden, institution and public space, recreation and industry. Out of a lifetime affinity with aesthetics, Dominic Lepere avails to us that which he has long valued: beauty in all its texture, proportion, utility and ease.

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Carolina Wilcke 
'Sphere' at Design Biennale Istanbul 2012. 

‘Sphere’ will be shown for the first time at  SALON Design Biennale Istanbul 2012

October 13 - December 12 2012 ‘Sphere’ is a series of products that refer to the appearances of the moon that led to different objects; candle holder, bowl, pot and vase. The series has been produced in close collaboration with the ceramics factory ‘Iznik Foundation’ in Turkey. The first chapter of the biography of the series 'Sphere' will be turned into a film.

"With the aim of understanding and depicting design and underlining the importance of design for production, economy, cultural interaction and quality of life of individuals, the first International İstanbul Design Biennial will be realised in 2012.  International İstanbul Design Biennial will be open to all disciplines of the creative industries in major fields such as urban design, architecture, interior design, industrial design, graphic design, and fashion design, as well as their subfields. Design Biennial aims to emphasise the importance of design thinking in business life, and will include national and international design exhibitions, thematic presentations, workshops, seminars, and specific projects."

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A new cabinet by Christophe Come,
made of lava stone finished in a vivid green glaze
inset into a hand-forged iron frame. - Cristina Grajales Gallery 

PAD London: Design London:
October 10th – 14th, 2012

"Set in the vibrant heart of Mayfair, PAD is London’s leading fair for 20th Century art, design and decorative arts. Inspiring a unique spirit of collecting, PAD epitomises how modern art, photography, design, decorative and tribal arts interact to reveal astonishing combinations and create the most individual and staggering interiors.  Prominent international galleries from major cities across Europe, North America and Asia come together to offer an exceptional panorama of the most coveted and iconic works available on the market today. PAD is a place to discover and acquire pieces of museum quality with a distinct history.  PAD cultivates eclecticism, authenticity and connoisseurship with passion and flair. Its boutique setting is designed to inspire collectors, art consultants, museum experts, interiors specialists, design practitioners and the public alike, making PAD the only event of its kind."

Read a past conversation Cristina Grajales ... "She does not believe in simply educating her clients about specific designers, but aims to enlighten them towards all disciplines related to furniture design." (here)

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2012 Restaurant Design:
Workshop Kitchen + Bar : Palm Springs

"Manhattan based Soma Architects took on this project with owners Michael Beckman and Joseph Mourani. First thought: how to realize a contemporary design in a beautiful Colonial building? Our solution was to create a clear contrast through a Modernist insert that follows the rhythm of the space's 27' cathedral ceiling trusses, it's pillars, and 17' high barn-like windows.

"A preference for Industrial Chic led us to a language of architectural concrete, black steel, monolithic forms, and classic, earthy Modern tableware.Soma has earned its reputation for innovative, progressive design on a truly international level, with dozens of global projects under its belt and headquarters in NYC, Beirut and Mexico City. Soma Principal Michel Abboud and Partner Leopoldo Sguera are fellow graduates of the Columbia University School of Architecture. "

 photography by David Lee

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Gary Hume: 2   Sprüth Magers Berlin  

September 08 - October 20 2012

A member of the celebrated group of ‘Young British Artists’ who emerged from London’s Goldsmiths College in the late 1980s, Hume has developed a distinctive visual language of bold, simplified forms and an innovative use of colour. Renowned for his large-scale paintings which use high gloss paint to create planes of industrial colour, Gary Hume’s principal thematic concerns are colour and light and formal ambiguity, while his subject matter ranges from friends, family and celebrities, to motifs drawn from nature and childhood. Recognisable images, sometimes sourced from magazines or snapshots and often of a personal, sentimental nature are schematized, abbreviated and silhouetted almost to the point of abstraction so that the original source material is rarely traceable within the final work.  2 will bring together a selection of works on paper, produced between 2008 - 2010. The charcoal sketches were put aside until recently when the artist had the idea of adding to the existing works by painting the glass of their frames.

The monochrome drawings are thus enlivened with colour and texture, imbuing certain details of the earlier compositions with increased significance. The works reveal a further experimentation with paint on different surfaces, as well as highlighting Hume’s interest in the issues of repetition and process in artistic production. (more here)

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"But sort of recreating what was happening in the 17th and 18th century when the highest form of furniture making was cabinet making, and the cabinets at that time took on an importance with the wealthy like big paintings do now. If you wanted to really have something that showed you had good taste, the best possible thing you could put in your interior in those days would have been a cabinet. That was the way you showed that you were rich and that your taste was good and everything else is you commissioned a cabinet from a famous cabinetmaker. That was the highest sort of art form you could do, something that's real big and splashy." - Wendell Castle

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R 20th Century is pleased to announce that The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, is presenting the first major exhibition of Wendell Castle's work in over twenty years and the only one to focus exclusively on the period when his inimitable style of ground-breaking sculptural furniture was defined. The iconic designer's exploration of form and function blurred the boundaries between art, craft, and design, forever changing the way we look at furniture. The exhibition coincides with Castle's eightieth birthday and will be accompanied by a publication of his work.

Wendell Castle: Wandering Forms-Works from 1959-1979  October 20, 2012 - February 24, 2013  Curated by Evan Snyderman of R 20th Century and Alyson Baker of The Aldrich Museum


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