Sunday, August 29, 2010

Treasure Chest found in a Thrift Store

Who would of known that amongst all the cluster a thrift store offers there would be a brand name in the mix. This broken-heart shaped necklace was designed by costume jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane. Before Kenneth began his own brand, he started of designing shoes for Delman and Christian Dior. He was featured in Andy Warhol Screen Tests as a "high fashion artist" and as a guest for Truman Capote's Black and White Ball.



"He has created unique designs for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, and Audrey Hepburn. He is probably most well known for his three-strand faux pearl necklace worn by Barbara Bush to her husband's inaugural ball. Some say that Duchess of Windsor is buried in the jewelled belt he created for her.
His continued philosophy is that 'elegance, good taste and luxury never go out of style.' Current stars wearing his jewelry include the Olsen twins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mischa Barton, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears."
This goes to show that you don't need money to look fabulous. All you need is patience, and good eye sight to find the gem between the rocks.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Down the yellow brick road Dorthy!

51st's city MADNESS. too crowded and too hot. way too many eyes at once. but there's a beautiful cure- air-conditioned, and quite enough to hear not only a pin dropping but some one's feet prancing against the cold bare tiles. MoMA, in other words I have a confession- I'M A MoMA-an (a homosapien attached to this particular museum.) Feet tumbling across the floor, my knowledge book in hand PAUSE, yes I have a knowledge book, in which I write about anything/anyone that I read or heard about that fascinates me: basically my learning device for my own curiosity that I can always refer to...I was searching for my new holy grail material to be inked into my learning device. I noticed besides the wonderful Henri Matisse exhibition going on this month, a new focused theme-feminism in art. I pondered about the fact that most of the works were done by women or women groups...
 
 

In my opinion there are two types of feminism. 1.) Women who believe that their place is in the home- taking care of their delicious chivalrous husbands, children, and their excellent cooking skills. They believe in these "roles": women as care takers and men as the protectors. Most of these women I believe could in a way agree with creationism and the role of Adam and Eve. 2.) The second type of feminists are woman who are trying to make it big with their careers and are independent while fighting for the same rights as men. These women don't agree with these traditional roles and argue against them. 
Those women are represented here in these photos and statistics as the Guerrilla Girls, and they're in your face, demanding your attention, and bringing out this passion for protesting against sexism through art. Disappointment appears when I see its the 21st century and there are battles for equality.

Friday, August 6, 2010

perhaps we're all forgetting about the salt march?

Vogue Italia 
Italian Vogue's oil-spilled themed photo shoot. Model Kristen McMenamy posses in oil drenched clothing. Comments range from "glamorizing the oil spill", to "being provocative". But in my opinion, the best art is provocative. For the vast fashion community to take responsibility for provoking BP publicly in a 24 page spread, invites a larger audience to educate themselves of what disaster is going on right now, instead of whats going right now on the runways.
Quite frankly if the Italian Vogue only wanted to "glamorize" this event, why would they have cascading oil pouring down and practically ruining designer pieces-no one has come up with that idea have they? 
Art is always a way to raise awareness, and so are the hundreds of protests that have been going on these past months but you're right, there's a limit to everything. 
Gandhi led the Salt March to boycott British goods and stop British Imperialism. His efforts remind us of civil disobedience. Due to this statement I am appalled when I see that BP gas stations are being destroyed by protesters. Does no one understand that the workers in the gas station can't do anything and are in fact innocent workers just trying to support their families. By destroying the station you put the company in even larger debt and the focus gets tossed not on the oil spill but on building the new gas stations and paying the workers who have lost their jobs. Speaking your mind is just that, speaking. You're entitled to your protests but there's no excuse behind destroying. This is why I love this photo shoot, because it's silent but controversial. 
Love it or hate it, you're still talking about it.

Vogue Italia