Natalie de Koning

Αυθεντες.

2011-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

Follow the progress of my graduation collection here.

Dizzy @ IFFR.

2011-02-03T05:34:00.000-08:00

The movie of my collection 'Dizzy' was chosen to be screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam last sunday! 15 movies were shown at - a sold out - Pathe Rotterdam, which were all part of the Fashion Film Competition. I did not win first price, but it was just awesome to watch my collection coming by with a bucket of popcorn on my lap!

Concept:
Lots of people behave or dress differently in different situations. Always changing like a chameleon just leaves you dizzy.
For this collection I demolished and recycled an entire leather couch and added some dyed silk and cotton. In total, the collection contains approximately 32 meter zipper.

A film by Jerom Fischer
Model: Lisa Den Oudendammer
Clothes & Styling: Natalie de Koning
Music: Loops - Naughty Castle

2011-01-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

"Geometry existed before the creation."

Plato

2010-12-19T02:57:00.000-08:00

Dizzy.

2010-12-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Lots of people behave or dress differently in different situations. Always changing like a chameleon just leaves you dizzy.

For this collection I demolished and recycled an entire leather couch and added some dyed silk and cotton. In total, the collection contains approximately 32 meter zipper.

A film by Jerom Fischer
Model: Lisa Den Oudendammer
Clothes & Styling: Natalie de Koning
Music: Loops - Naughty Castle

Immersed in nature.

2010-12-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

Model: Anne De Boer.

Fashion for Dizzy People.

2010-11-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

Lots of people behave or dress differently in different situations. Always changing like a chameleon just leaves you dizzy.

For this outfit I demolished and recycled an entire leather couch and added some dyed cotton. The garment is completely composed out of triangles and zippers (twelve meter zipper in total).

Photographer: Mary Molina.

Contribution to AVRO Selfmade Fashion Contest, vote here.

2010-10-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

2010-10-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

2010-10-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

2010-10-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

2010-10-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

2010-10-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

2010-08-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Texel.

2010-08-28T07:38:00.001-07:00

Bar 25.

2010-08-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Transformation.

2010-06-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I visited the Graduation show of the senior fashion design students of the Utrecht School of Arts (HKU). A few talents caught my eye and Nynke Eggen was one of them. She made a collection named Transformation.

Her collection is based on the iconic women's suit, which represents the spirit of the past fifty years: years in which our society was predominantly around male properties. Now our society is changing; it is heading for a more feminine society and Nynke tries to express this transformation in her collection by transforming the traditional women suit.

During the show, it seemed as if there was a transformation as model after model entered the catwalk. The first model seemed to wear the traditional women's suit as we know it. But the silhouette changed with each and every model. They all had references to the suit though. And the soft colored suits were combined with tough and high leather boots.

Nynke has not launched her website yet, so far we just have to do it with her pictures. But hopefully we'll hear more from her in the next couple of years!

Photography: Maurice Snabilie
Make-up: Eveline Klumpers
Models: Maiken @ Fresh Model Management & Eldrid @ Favourite Models

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Coconut Macaroon Pancakes.

2010-06-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

With the not so summery weather outside and fathers day in prospective, I thought it would be a good idea to give you some inspiration for an extensive and - of course - delicious breakfast. I've never had pancakes for breakfast before, but in the USA it's a common thing to eat in the morning. Maybe good for us Dutchmen to push our conservative old breakfast habits aside for once and try these special coconut and macaroon-flavoured pancakes. Or maybe it’s a good way to show the love for your father or the father of your children? And they're not difficult to make either: just eight ingredients and about ten minutes separate you from a stack of these little miracles.

Recipe from Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks.

Written for BLEND.

Carl Kleiner.

2010-06-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Carl Kleiner is a photographer with a passion for surrealism, emotional properties and geometry. The works of the Swedish photographer are definitely showing love for the beautiful things in life. He has a range of humorous, compelling and occasionally shocking images in his portfolio. Playing with props, models, colours and concepts, there are a lot of different ideas in his photography.

It's hard to choose which images of him I should share  here, because there is such a variety in his works and the images are  all very beautiful. He makes photographs of, for example, creepy  life-size Barbie dolls, graceful paper airplanes and everyday objects  arranged to produce mind-melting geometric shapes. Just take a look at  the images I gathered here and check out his portfolio and blog  for more brilliant works.

Written for BLEND.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion.

2010-06-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Religion and its visual externalization are high on the European agenda list of topics. Burqa's are already forbidden in Belgium and soon France will also follow this example. But are burqa's and other religious garments part of rituals or are they just pure aesthetic elements?

From the 26th of June until the 9th of January 2010,  the Hasselt  Fashion Museum becomes the place where visitors can explore  this link between fashion and religion by visiting the exhibition Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion. This  exhibition will not show a traditional overview of historical religious  garments and textile, but focuses on the relationship between  contemporary fashion and religion. It emphasizes the integration and  translation of religious symbolism in designs of the past decennia. A  few examples of what will be on display are original interpretations of  burqa's, a praying carpet transformed into a handbag, rosaries and  habits remodelled as catwalk ensembles and haute couture nuns.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion will be a  compilation of creations of national and international designers and  the exhibition examines how religion is integrated in their work. Rick  Owens, Walter Van Beirendonck, Mada Van Gaans and Bernhard Wilhelm are  just a few names of designers that will participate in this expo.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion
June 26, 2010 - January 9, 2011
Hasselt  Fashion Museum, Hasselt Belgium

Written for BLEND.

DMY Awards: the outcome.

2010-06-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

1. For Use/Numen - Tape Installation

Last Friday, the winners of the DMY design festival in Berlin were announced. DMY annually highlights the most exceptional works in contemporary product design. The DMT Award winners are being selected from a group out of ten projects, nominated by the international festival jury. The first place winner of the DMY Awards was For Use/Numen with their stunning and expansive installation Tape Installation, which was completely made out of transparent sticky tape. Second was the Dutch duo Daphna Isaacs & Laurens Manders with their beautiful designed centrepieces, called Tafelstukken. And EPFL+ECAL Lab came in third with their exhibition Give Me More, which explored the prospects of augmented reality.

2. Daphne Isaacs & Laurens Manders - Tafelstukken

3. EPFL+ECAL Lab - Give Me More

Written for BLEND.

Proof.

2010-06-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Photography often gives you the idea that the photographer just got the shot by coincidence; just walking by casually and "click" the perfect shot in one fortuitous moment. This may be true in some cases, but most of the time the perfect shot takes a lot more energy, and most important, a higher amount of shots. The exhibition Proof of the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago tries to highlight this last phenomenon.

From July 16th till  September 4th, 26 photographers will exhibit their contact sheets  (proofs) alongside their chosen photograph. The contact sheet is akin to  a diary. Few artists ever let the public see these, as it reveals their  process and way of thinking. So, this show lets viewers see how the  photographer's eyes framed a specific scene. Certainly recommended if  you've always wanted to take a look inside an artist’s brain!

Proof
July 16th - September 4th 2010
Catherine  Edelman Gallery, Chicago

Written for BLEND.

Week End by Alex Prager.

2010-06-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Adorned with wigs and dressed in seventies retro glamour, the characters of the photographs of Alex Prager explore American youth and pop culture in cinematic series that appear to have stepped straight off a 1950's film set. The women are staged in neon Californian landscapes, which gives a result of timeless, eerie and compelling images. "I am documenting a world that exists and doesn't exist at the same time." thus Alex Prager.

The Michael Hoppen  Contemporary Gallery in London presents the most recent work,  called Week End, by the rising American photographer till July 7th. Also  her first move into film with Despair, a film written by Prager and  directed by Requiem for a Dream's Matthew Libatique, is shown at the  gallery.

Alex Prager - Week End
June 10th till July 17th 2010
Michael  Hoppen Contemporary, London

Written for BLEND.

Fingerings.

2010-06-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

I think most of us can share a short history of finger painting far back in our childhood, but most of us left this primitive art form far behind. But not Judith Braun; she has taken finger painting to a whole new level. She makes drawings and installations only by using her fingers, dipped in charcoal or pastel. Mostly, her drawings are in abstract forms and bilateral symmetry. Sometimes she uses both hands simultaneously to the extent of her arms’ reach to create symmetrical patterns.

Written for BLEND.

Kevin Kramp.

2010-06-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Kevin Kramp is a men's knitwear designer from London. He combines exaggerated, bold, soft and beautifully refreshing shapes with luxury fibres of angora, mohair, cashmere, wool, cotton, textured silks and nylons, using a wide range of colours, stitch techniques and jacquard patterns. With these techniques and fabrics he creates beautiful, innovative, sophisticated, high-concept, sexy and wearable garments.

Kramp received a first Bachelor's degree in Visual Art  and a second Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design with Knitwear. His  degree collection at Central St. Martins immediately caught attention of  the global fashion industry.

Written for BLEND.

Altered magazine covers by Christopher Coppers.

2010-06-15T13:29:00.001-07:00

Talking about a love-hate relationship with fashion: destructive creator Christopher Coppers certainly has one, by violently carving in fashion or beauty magazines, changing their function and appearance.

Christopher  Coppers is a Brussels-based artist whose preferred medium is magazines.  For the most part, his work consists of interventions, either with,  within or on magazines. Combining his love for printed matter with an  obvious urge for creative destruction, Christopher revisits magazines in  a way that somehow gives them a second purpose.

Construction and deconstruction are important key elements in his work.  He dramatically reinterprets the original covers of magazines such as  Elle, Vogue, Playboy, View Magazine and many others, by intricately  carving them and therefore transforming them into sculptures.

Written for BLEND.

Recht voor zijn raap.

2010-06-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

This summer, the Central Museum Utrecht in collaboration with the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, offers a platform to young and innovative artists. For this exhibition, the museum has selected visual artists, designers and architects, who have received a starter stipend for their work from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture between 2006 and 2008.

The works of 31 promising young artists, who are  not  afraid of sharing their opinion about modern-day society, are on   display. Various disciplines and talents come together: design,   architecture, photography, illustration, painting, and film. Despite all   diversity, the nature of the works can be characterised as clear,   direct and confronting, like the title says in Dutch: recht voor zijn   raap.

The exhibition is not only presenting  work of up-and-coming  talent, but also work of artists who have already  developed themselves  and became successful in the past few years. For  example, Christien  Meindertsma, who won the Dutch Design Award in  2008  for best design with PIG 05049. And illustrator Gijs Huijgen  and fashion  designer Iris van Herpen with the  same prize in 2009 for their work in  the categories best illustration  and best product fashion, jewellery  & accessory. Especially for the  exhibition, several artists, like  Sjocosjon and Marc Koehler,  create new work.

Also  a two-part catalogue about the exhibition will be published,  made by  the designers Alfons Hooikaas  and Felix  Weigand.

Recht   voor zijn raap
June 19th - September 12th
Central   Museum Utrecht

Written for BLEND.

Reconsidering your health.

2010-06-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

We all have bad habits, mostly not very healthy manners, like smoking or a daily chocolate bar addiction. Chinese product designer Daizi Zheng has found a way to encourage people to rethink their relationship between health and diet. He created a range of healthy snacks packaged to look like drugs and junk food to achieve this goal.

The project features cigarette carrot sticks,  blueberries in a pill  blister pack and celery french fries. Even the  amount of vitamins and  fat percentage is written on the packages  instead of, for instance, the  nicotine grade.
"Using the recognizable  stereotyping packaging would make people  feel more physically and  physiologically connected with those daily  objects. By giving the good  food a little make over, it could  contribute the availability of healthy  food and encourages people to  make a change for their everyday life."  thus Daizi Zheng.
But can design encourage  people to rethink their relationship with  healthy food to gain a  balanced diet or to stop smoking? Maybe. I know  I wouldn’t just quit my  occasional smoke or weekly portion of french  fries. But maybe for some  persons with bigger problems it could open  their eyes. What do you  think?

Written for BLEND.

Robert Knight: Sleepless.

2010-06-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

When I woke up this morning I thought I had a good night sleep; I went to bed quite early and didn't wake up till morning, without any interruptions. But did I really get my rest or is it not really as it seems? Robert Knight might have asked this same question, because he started a multimedia project on the subject of sleep. Using a combination of layered photographs, audio and video recordings, he has created portraits of sleepers over time.

These images are not ones of sweet sleep though, or  depictions that readily describe something specific about each  particular sleeper. They successfully accomplish what Knight writes was  his goal all along: a story about sleep itself. The images portray the  fact that we are often not at rest, not powered-down and not peacefully  dreaming.

"Sleepless examines the contradiction between our expectations about  sleep and its nocturnal actuality. It reveals a state of restlessness  through the ethereal and translucent bodies, which are captured during  long-exposure nighttime shots. The resultant images are nighttime  narratives—stories of our night's sleep which suggest a contemporary  sleep crisis in our society." thus Robert Knight.

If you're in Boston in June and July, you can experience this  multi-dimensional and layered study firsthand at the Gallery Kayafas from  tomorrow.

Sleepless
June 4 - July 17 2010
Gallery  Kayafas, Boston, USA

Written for BLEND.

Wild Gathering: A Triangle Project.

2010-06-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, the Beijing Angle Modern Art Gallery opens the exhibition Wild Gathering, an exceptional global exhibition where photography and fashion meet, showcasing modern youth culture and featuring photographers Madi Ju (Beijing) and Peter Sutherland (New York) alongside fashion designer Hiro Sawatari (Tokyo).

The three  artists are connected by their interest in youth culture. Early on Peter  SutherlandMadi  Ju exchanged photos made in a variety of environments, but all  with kids expressing strong emotions in their natural habitat. They shot  in cities all over the world and sent the photos to fashion designer Hiro Sawatari,  who created T-shirts with collages from the pictures. Then, Peter and  Madi shot six looks from Hiro's collections, which, including the  clothes and the other images, will be on display in the gallery.

Madi Ju is a  freelance photographer based in Beijing. Her images are steeped in the  style of the snapshot aesthetic; loosely framed, usually shot on a  compact camera and often an extension of the photographer’s life. Peter  Sutherland is an American photographer, born in Colorado in  1976. His work employs some of the techniques of traditional documentary  photography to capture the hidden beauty of ordinary objects and  everyday situations. Hiro Sawataris is born in Fukuoka, Japan in  1981. Harmonizing a nostalgic grace with Japanese minimalism, Hiro Sawatari  creates solid menswear by using fine couture fabrics.

Wild Gathering: A Triangle Project
June 5th till 12th 2010
Beijing Angle Modern Art Gallery, Beijing

Written for BLEND.

Pretty Much Everything.

2010-06-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Foam_Photography Museum Amsterdam is about to put the work of the world famous Dutch photographer duo Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin on display, just in time for their quarter-life century mark. They are well known for their work for fashion magazines, advertising campaigns, and for their independent artwork. Together, they\'ve done campaigns for YSL, Chanel, Balmain, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Yohji Yamamoto and Chloé.

Their work has been published in magazines like W  Magazine, Vogue and The New York Times. Vinoodh Matadin and Inez van  Lamsweerde have become known for their edgy and creative photography,  which blurs the line between art and fashion. Rather than taking an  outsider view of the fashion world as artists, they have become part of  the fashion system, although retaining the freedom to create critical  and occasionally disconcerting images.

The exhibition will feature 275 of the duo\'s striking, conceptual  works. Art or fashion related photographs, portraits, all in an  arbitrary order; the images are classified on personal, formal, social,  political and intuitive associations, showing how they\'ve been a part  of many artist lives during the past 25 years. To accompany the  exhibition, the pair has released their first monograph, a two-volume  set containing a momentous 666 photographs.

Inez  van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin
Pretty Much Everything - photographs 1985-2010
June 25th – September 15th 2010
Foam_Photography  Museum Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

New clip: We Have Band - Oh!

2010-06-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

Una Burke.

2010-06-07T01:15:00.000-07:00

Una Burke makes the most remarkable objects, both fashion and art related. Carcass-like in form, each artefact is hand crafted from tanned leather, resulting in a colour indicative of human flesh. The pieces can be used as artefacts and can be placed in the environment of a gallery or they can be used in the context of a fashion accesory. When broken down into sections, the pieces can be combined with other garments and worn as structured accesories for the body.

This collection of emotionally  charged fashion artefacts is based on the subject of human trauma.  Victims of this often create emotional barriers as a means of protection  against the re-occurance of pain. These barriers have the potential to  become a trapping device, resulting in an inability to function in  certain situations. But when the body is removed from these leather  structures, the shape of the contorted human form is retained and a  moment or feeling remains apparent. Also a number of pieces resemble  medical braces used to heal broken bones and spinal injuries; this  signifies the potential for healing.

"Through my work I continually aim to create leather objects which are  both visually captivating and technically challenging. They are pieces  of wearable art which are indefinable as particular garments, preventing  them from being placed into the conventional categories of the fashion  industry." thus Una  Burke.

But Una has had her work already requested by several influential  stylists and has also received orders from artists like Lady Gaga and  Madonna. She's now slowly developing ranges of smaller leather  accesories and bodypieces for stores in London and San Francisco.

Written for BLEND.

American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection.

2010-06-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

At the moment, the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York is presenting an exhibition of some of the most renowned objects from its costume collection. Works by the first generation of American women designers such as Bonnie Cashin, Elizabeth Hawes, and Claire McCardell are featured, as well as material created by Charles James, Norman Norell, Gilbert Adrian, and other important American designers.

American High Style consists of approximately  eighty-five dressed mannequins and a selection of hats, shoes,  sketches, and other fashion-related items. Besides the pieces of  American designers, also work of French designers who had an important  influence on American women and fashion are included. Designers such as  Charles Frederick Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, Jeanne  Paquin, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret and Christian Dior.

The exhibition explores developing perceptions of the modern American  woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American  women are seen today. It focuses on archetypes of American femininity  through dress and reveals how the American woman initiated style  revolutions that matched her social, political, and sexual emancipation. 

American High Style: Fashioning a National  Collection  
May 7th - August 1st 2010
Brooklyn  Museum of Art , New York

Written for BLEND.

Bryony Lloyd.

2010-06-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

Bryony Lloyd is a 24-year-old illustrator who graduated from the University of Brighton in 2008. She's specialised in collages and makes the most remarkable and beautiful illustrations with this technique.

Now she works freelance from her  home in London, but her life story did not begin here and is maybe as  remarkable as her work. The beginning of her biography says: "I was  raised in palm desert by a gang of bikers. While travelling by Harley  through the western desert, I would collect scraps, images that  interested me. This was how my love of collage began."

Bryony says about her work: "I like my work to have a magical, surreal  edge and my style amalgamates the aesthetic of different eras that I  cherish." Bryony cherishes all nostalgic things and tries to project  this in her collage work, taking reference from old books, films and  people she admires. 

Written for BLEND.

Kate Marks.

2010-06-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

Canadian designer Kat Marks combines fashion and film in her work. She creates videos that feature her thought-provoking pieces.

Marks has a conceptual approach to her work and is  always looking for the boundaries between art, fashion and film. There  are connections between medicine, architecture and fetishism in her  designs. She mainly focuses on creating body pieces in rigid materials  such as plastic that are characterised by sculptural sensual forms.

She has created two collections so far, called Infundibulum  and Yugas  Elder, which was also featured in a film directed by Daniel Shipp,  produced by Goran Boskovic and showcased at Nuit Blanche 2009. Now she  is developing her third collection that will have ten designs in  plastic, leather and textiles. Besides that, she has just completed a  new film, The Granfaloon, an experimental study in fashion presentation  that features macabre atmospheres and futuristic body pieces.

Written for BLEND.

Granfalloon from The Wonder Years on Vimeo.

Yayoi Kusama.

2010-06-07T00:31:00.000-07:00

Dots, dots, dots, how obsessed can one artist be with dots? Well, it seems that Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama certainly is, a lot. Her paintings, collages, soft sculptures, performance art and environmental installations all share an obsession with repetition, pattern, and accumulation. Yayoi has even described herself as an obsessive artist.

Kusama's  work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes of feminism,  minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art, and abstract expressionism,  and is infused with autobiographical, psychological, and sexual content.  Kusama is also a published novelist and poet, and has created notable  work in film and fashion design.

Early in her career, Kusama began covering surfaces (walls, floors,  canvases, and later household objects and naked assistants) with polka  dots, which is now a trademark of her work. 

"...a polka dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy  of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon,  which is calm. Round, soft, colourful, senseless and unknowing. Polka  dots become movement... Polka dots are a way to infinity." thus  Yayoi Kusama.

Yayoi Kusama  ,  who is now almost 80 years, is seen as one of the most influential and  widely collected artists of the 1960's and up. Her work is still on  display in different exhibitions around the world. For example, begin  this year it was on display in Miami and now in the Towada Art Centre,  Aomori, Japan.

Written for BLEND.

Tuesday Tune \ Alive by Goldfrapp.

2010-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, time for a new interesting, wonderful, strange, amazing track to sublimate your ears with by sharing magnificent melodies, rough rhythms and booming beats. This weeks Tuesday Tune is the new single Alive from Goldfrapp, the English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, consisting of singer-songwriter and musician Alison Goldfrapp and musician/producer Will Gregory.

Golfrapp's 2000 debut album  Felt Mountain featured minimalistic electronics compositions with down  tempo structures and soft vocals. The albums that followed, Black Cherry  (2003) and Supernature (2005), have seen Goldfrapp embracing elements  of glam rock, dance and disco music. Usually associated with the  electro clash movement, Goldfrapp recalls 1980's new  wave. But their album Seventh Tree (2008) sounded more folktronica and  ambient. Now, their latest album Head First (March 2010) marks another  change of direction towards electro pop and 1980s synthpop.

Goldfrapp    is frequently performing at different festivals this summer and in  August the duo is heading to the Netherlands. August 18th, they'll  perform in Paradiso Amsterdam. For now, we just have to do it with their  recorded tracks, so enjoy our great Tuesday Tune below!

Written for BLEND.

Distortion 2010.

2010-05-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen Distortion is Scandinavia's leading nightlife festival. This five-day festival offers 88 dance floors, including four huge block parties at different locations (warehouses, museums, sport halls, bridges, old breweries). Every day the festival is held in a different neighbourhood in Copenhagen, so Distortion moves through the different city districts, celebrating the city of Copenhagen.

The festival program  is as eclectic as it gets - from formal dinner party events under a  bridge, to skateboard contests through fire loops, jazz concerts and of  course classic techno raves. The Distortion block parties  take place in the streets, for free, while the sun sets, and the Distortion  Club Clash program takes place during the night in spectacular  Copenhagen locations, with overwhelming line-ups. A few names from the  line-up: Simian Mobile Disco,  Booka  Shade, Kode  9, Len  Faki, Gus  Gus, the locals Who made Who and many other  experimental-music-orientated artists.

Distortion    was once an underground movement, but now, with their 10th anniversary,  the festival has more than 40.000 visitors. "We make room for everyone -  at least anyone who is good at having fun," says Distortion's Chef  Orchestre and founder, Thomas Fleurquin. "Rock types, techno types,  hip-hop types, hipster types, whatever types... we don't care where  people come from, as long as they have balls and energy".

Distortion  2010  
June 2nd - 6th 2010
Copenhagen

Written for BLEND.

70s Photography and everyday life.

2010-05-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

© William Eggleston / Courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

In the seventies, photography was accepted as an art form for the first time and everyday life began to infiltrate in photography as a very important theme. Also, the camera was used as a social and political tool in times of political awareness and political and economic liberty of women. Now, the Dutch Photography Museum tries to give a unique image of the most important period in photography history with the exhibition 70s Photography and everyday life.

With the exhibition, pictures of different seventies  photographers will be on display. For example, the work of David Goldblatt,  William  Eggleston, Eugene Richards and Ed van der  Elsken. There's also a book, especially compiled for the  occasion, called 70s  Photography and everyday life as well. The opening of the  exhibition is Saturday, June 5th, at 7.00 PM.

70s  Photography and everyday life  
June 5th - September 19th 2010
Dutch  Photography Museum Rotterdam 

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Lemon Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp.

2010-05-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Friday, time for a new, simple, different and delicious recipe to begin your weekend with. And because it's the asparagus season now - I already ate it three times this week - I chose a recipe with this ingredient. And risotto might just be the perfect dish for spring: it's rich and satisfying for the chilly nights, but not quite as heavy as a winter stew. Add some shrimps and lemon, which brightens both the asparagus and the shrimp with its clean citrus spark, to the meal and you've got the perfect combination for a delicious bite if you ask me. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients

      * 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
   * 2 cups water
   * 3/4 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
   * 1 small onion, finely chopped
   * 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
   * 1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
   * 1/4 cup dry white wine
   * 3/4 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (remove the  gastrointestinal tract of a shrimp)
   * 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
   * 1/4 cup grated parmesan
   * 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions 

      1. Bring broth and water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add  asparagus and simmer, uncovered, until just tender, for about 4 minutes.  Transfer asparagus with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop cooking,  then drain. Keep broth at a bare simmer, covered.
   2. Cook onion in 2 tablespoon butter with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a  4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until  softened, for about 5 minutes.
   3. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add wine  and simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed.
   4. Stir in 1/2 cup broth mixture and briskly simmer, stirring  frequently, until absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time,  stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding  the next, until rice is creamy and tender but still al dente (it should  be the consistency of a thick soup), for about 18 minutes. (There will  be leftover broth mixture.)
   5. Stir in shrimp and cook until just cooked through, for 2 to 3  minutes.
   6. Stir in asparagus, zest, remaining 2 tablespoon butter, parmesan,  parsley, and pepper to taste. (Thin risotto with some of remaining  broth if necessary.)

Recipe form  Gourmet.

Written for BLEND.

Maison Martin Margiela '20' The Exhibition.

2010-05-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Maybe some of you have seen it before, but for the ones who missed it: Maison Martin Margiela '20' The Exhibition. This time not in MoMu Antwerp or the Haus der Kunst in Munich, but in the Somerset House London.

The exhibition  is made for celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of the most  influential and enigmatic designers. The exhibition captures two decades  of Margiela's unique aesthetic and vision, incorporating garments,  installations, photography and film. It will provide an opportunity to  learn more about the brand and its philosophy through a visual  examination of themes. The themes underpin the essence of the fashion  house since its creation. Various iconic pieces from both the women and  menswear collections will be on display, such as the highly replicated  'Tabi' boots, as well as specially recreated garments for the  exhibition.

No other fashion house has had quite the same impact on our  understanding of fashion and its relationship to history, craft,  commerce and innovation.  Martin Margiela's radical questioning and  rethinking of what fashion is, how we clothe the body and ideals of  human beauty, are still as groundbreaking as ever. And most of the time  his creations seek the boundaries between fashion and art. Margiela's  clothes are 'thinking fashion', imbued with obvious intellectual rather  than monetary value.

Maison Martin Margiela '20' The Exhibition  
June 3rd till September 5th 2010
Somerset  House London

Written for BLEND.

Sziget Hippie Express.

2010-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sziget Festival is one of the biggest festivals this summer, already excisting for almost 18 years now. And who hasn't heard of it? This years acts, already confirmed and sure to come to the island Óbudai in Budapest, are for example Faithless, Oi Va Voi, Vive La Fête, Iron Maiden, Danko Jones, Muse and many more.

Now restaurant and exhibition  facility Canvas op  de 7e has found a way to extend the festival. They found a way  to let the festival begin 22 hours earlier and to offer you transport to  Budapest: the Sziget Party Train Hippie Express. This  train, like the name suggests, gives you the opportunity of entering  Hungary while already partying.

The train leaves our country on August 8th from the railway stations  Amsterdam CS, Utrecht CS, Rotterdam CS, Eindhoven CS and Venlo. One of  the compartments of the train is completely tranformed into a club,  where you can already adjust to the atmosphere of the festival.

Of course, a range of dj's will join the 22 hour long trip to entertain  you and your fellow Sziget visitors. A few names of the line-up are Aardvarck,  San  Proper, Marvin Michel and last but not least, Baskerville,  3 FM's Serious Talent and also booked on Sziget Festival itself.

The trip costs about 300 euros but the ticket for the festival is  included. For tickets, click here.

Written for BLEND.

New Collection: Sandra Backlund.

2010-05-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sandra Backlund is well known for her knitwear in the fashion scene. Yet her Autumn/Winter 2010/2011 collection is a little different than we're used from her. Still employing her iconic knitting techniques, Backlund integrated different fabrics in her designs for the first time.

She  uses ribbed motifs, angles, folds, rigid wings and exuberant pleated  circles, that create sculptural geometric patterns and continuous  variation. The result of all these forms is a collection with a strong  three dimensionality that improves the natural shapes of the body. The  voluminous yet controlled designs exaggerate and highlight certain parts  of the body. Also different types of decorations are added to the  collection: embroideries, appliquéd motifs, crystals and fringes.

However, half of her collection is still knitted, but this time she  decided to approach the knitwear from a surface point of view: using  stitches that give the illusion of fur and feathers.

Now, with this new collection, it's finally possible to buy the pieces  Sandra  Backlund made. This is one of the reasons Backlund made a little  change in her work. So if all goes well, her work will appear in stores  next fall!

Written for BLEND.

Greg Streak: Nothing Lasts Forever.

2010-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

South African artist Greg Streak positions himself between different disciplines, working in sculpture, video, installation and documentary film making. His work is aesthetic and even minimalistic. Where most artists tend to specialize in one area, Streak is able to control almost any medium he turns to.

Streak's new work will be on display at the Soledad  Senlle Gallery in Amsterdam, from June 5th till July 17th. The  exhibition is a solo show, entitled Nothing  Lasts Forever, and is an extension of the work from his solo  exhibition Accumulative  Disintegration in 2008.

“I am interested in the invisible space between a title and the  accompanying work and how the work is transformed by the title and the  title by the work. At best the works are supposed to float away into  abstraction, multiple truths and fantasy and then the title functions as  this cruel anchor that nails it to the ground.” thus  Greg Streak.

Titles are critical in Streak's case.  Nothing  Lasts Forever is, as the title suggests, a search into the  impermanence of things. One of his new works, called Biopsy, is a 1.2m  diameter sphere with a thickness of 100mm and floats approximately 50mm  off the ground. It is constructed from 60 000 wire ties into an  intensely woven spiral. The title alludes to the fact that something is  potentially wrong, but you don't know exactly what, just like a real  biopsy.

"I sense that we live in a time where there is a lot wrong. The works  are intimate reflections, metaphors for this abnormality and what I see  as social haemorrhaging.”

Greg Streak:  Nothing Lasts Forever  
June 5th - July 17th 2010
Soledad  Senlle Gallery Amsterdam 

Written for BLEND.

Hilfiger Denim Live.

2010-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, May 27th, the second edition of Tommy Hilfigers music event will take place in Paradiso: Hilfiger Denim Live. With this event, fashion, music, entertainment and rock 'n' roll will assemble. The headlines of the evening are two American indie rock bands: Matt & Kim and The Drums. Matt & Kim have also been photographed for the ad campaign for the Hilfiger Denim collection spring/summer 2010. Besides the headlines, there are also performances of Major Lazer, LeLe, Kraak & Smaak (DJ-set) and Parra Soundsystem.

Matt & Kim  are an indie power pop duo from Brooklyn, New York, consisting of Matt  Johnson (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums, vocals). Formed in  2004, they released their self-titled debut album in October 2006 and  after that their second album, Grand, in January 2009.

With a very fresh pop sound, New York's  The Drums can be positioned in the British  music scene. Their music is minimal at times, but live it's a tetchy  rock 'n' roll show complete with a beautiful, sweaty vocal and dance  moves like The  Rakes.

Together, DJ's and producers  Diplo  and Switch form the act Major Lazer.  Their act is a mix of reggae, dancehall and pop. Kraak & Smaak  DJ's have a more eclectic sound and their music includes a variety of  funk, break beats, minimal and house. LeLe  from Amsterdam, consisting of producer Rimer London,  Pieter  Parra and Serge Faberyayo, are specialized in disco and electro  sounds. And last but not least, party team Parra  Soundsystem, will be the final act of the evening. With Parra  Soundsystem, DJ's Mr. Wix and Tom Trago  combine their skills and are ready to let you move your feet.

Hilfiger Denim Live  
Thursday May 27th, 9.00 PM till 4.00 AM
Paradiso  Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other.

2010-05-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

This summer, the New Museum in New York shows the work of Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander. The exhibition will put a spotlight on the artist's unique contribution to the narrative of Brazilian conceptualism and reveal her wide-ranging, interdisciplinary practice, that merges painting, photography, film, sculpture, installation, collaborative actions and participatory events.

Three installations in A  Day Like Any Other will involve direct visitor participation.  Like, I Wish Your Wish, for example. For this installation  hundreds of similar ribbons will be printed with visitors' wishes from  past projects, and will hang from the gallery walls. Everyone who passes  by will be invited to remove a ribbon, tie it to their wrist, and  replace it with a new wish written on a peace of paper, continuing the  project that keeps generating new ribbons and dreams.

In addition to these participatory actions there are also a few major  installations and several new paintings, like  After the Storm,  made with maps of New York counties exposed to a lot of rain, and  Involuntary Sculptures, sculptures made by customers during  conversations at bars and restaurants near Neuenschwander's home in  Brazil.

For her exhibition opening, Rivane Neuenschwander will discuss her work  with Richard Flood in the theatre at the New Museum on Thursday, June  24th, at 7.00 PM. 

Rivane  Neuenschwander, A Day Like Any Other  
June 23rd till September 19th, 2010
New Museum ,  New York

Written for BLEND.

Gold.

2010-05-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Gold is the most desirable metal known to humanity. Gold plays an important role in themes as protection, decoration, power, immortality, value and worship. Still this day, gold remains a valuable commodity, in many aspects.

This summer there will be an exhibition about this  subject in Museum  Catharijneconvent in Utrecht. The Dutch fashion designer and  (performance) artist Aziz  Bekkaoui will give his personal vision on gold for this  exhibition. Aziz will enhance the museum's own collection with  remarkable, thought-provoking, surprising, old, modern and contemporary  works on loan. And, for the first time, the collection from Aziz  himself, in which he frequently uses gold, will be on display.

Gold  
June 13th - January 6th 2010
Museum  Catharijneconvent Utrecht 

Written for BLEND.

Fashion & Architecture.

2010-05-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

LucyandBart

Although there are frequent crossovers between fashion and architecture and other disciplines, the collaboration between fashion designers and architects is still at an early stage. But recently, architecture is slowly making its presence in fashion. The pliable metals, membrane structures, lightweight glasses and plastics used in building construction are creeping onto the catwalk. At the same time, architects are borrowing the techniques of pleating, stapling, cutting and draping from traditional tailoring to design buildings that are flexible, interactive, inflatable and even portable. No wonder, because both disciplines have so much common ground: they are both concerned with creating volumes in order to protect people, and both involve principles of construction.

So  ARCAM,  Ontfront  and V2A Architectuur  & Stedenbouw thought it would be time to combine the skills  of these two disciplines. They have challenged four duos - each  comprising a fashion designer and an architect who have teamed up  especially for the occasion - to enter into a design process. The  results will be on display at ARCAM this summer. The  teams consist of Iris  van Herpen & Jan Benthem and Mels Crouwel,  Mattijs  van Bergen & Anouk Vogel, Farida Sedoc  & Nicole and  Marc Maurer and Kentroy Yearwood & Jeroen Bergsma.

Mutually inspired, the designers cut through the dogmas of their own  discipline, make a design statement and allow the visitor an insight  into the creative process. 

Exhibition  Fashion & Architecture  
July 17th - September 11th 2010
ARCAM ,  Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

Night Salon.

2010-05-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Friday the 28th of May, the foundation Museumnacht Amsterdam (n8) organizes a night salon in the Historical Museum of Amsterdam. At the same time, the exhibition The Hoerengracht will be on display here. The night is all about the history and the future of the Red Light District. What did it look like in the past? And what does the future have to bring to this beloved and controversial part of the city?

In the eighties, the American artists Edward en Nancy Kienholz made a 14 meters  long artwork: The  Hoerengracht, which is an interpretation of the Red Light  District of Amsterdam. Besides the exhibition of the artwork, the night  salon also offers a program filled with music, art and film, all about  seduction, paid love and the Red Light District.

As part of the music program of the evening, the duo  Saelors  will give an acoustic performance, surrounded by 17th century paintings  in the Schuttersgalerij. The minimal music of the two is also called  folk-noir. And besides that, DJ's Wannabe A Star and Martin  Duvall will show their skills. By giving you a mix of pop,  house, punk and disco.

The courtyard of the  Historical  Museum of Amsterdam changes in an outdoor cinema during the  evening. There it's possible to see the short movie Caresse, made by Jim  Taihuttu, about the boundaries between paid and unpaid love. And the  documentary Rondom het Oudekerksplein by Roeland Kerbosch, which will  give you a unique image of the Red Light District during the sixties of  the past century.

Also Bojana Panevska will give a performance this evening, which will be  a play about the power relations between herself and the audience. And  last but not least, different artists and fashion designers will tell  about their experiences with the studios they owned in the neighborhood. 

Night Salon 
Friday May 28th
Historical Museum  Amsterdam 

Written for BLEND.

Plastic Fantastic?

2010-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, plastic is an inevitable matter of our society. Everything is made out of plastic, because of the durability and just because plastic is handy and useful. But actually it disfigures our environment permanently with ever-growing garbage mountains: plastic will be the environmental problem of the future.

And besides that, plastic is increasingly used as  decoration. You name something and it's probably copied and made out of  this material. Well, this was what inspired photographer Richard Kuiper  to make his own still lifes of this century: illuminated plastic  everyday objects, in Golden Age style.

Still lifes with flowers, food, Chinese porcelain, beautiful silver and  golden wine coolers, candlesticks en other normal utensils. At first  sight, the objects look like they should, but when you look a little  longer, they're not what they appear: the exhibition is a display of  17th century art with a remarkable twist.

The Dutch still life in plastic - Richard Kuiper 
May 15th - May 30th 2010
Gallery Home ,  Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

CUTTERS2010.

2010-05-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Collage is in no way a new medium. Lots of artists have practiced this art form in the past few centuries. However, as today's world edges closer to chaos with all its imagery and overflow of information, collage enjoys a newly found place among certain ways of expression.

CUTTERS2010,  a group exhibition curated by James Gallagher,  reaffirms the new recognition of collage with recent collage works of  thirteen international artists. Using varied techniques and materials,  each of the artists exploits the formal and ideological power of found  images and they create a range of work with it that depict everything,  from social commentaries to personal confessions and surrealist  fantasies.

The exhibition shows us the work of different collage artists. You can  behold Valero  Doval's delicate vintage, Erik Foss's dirty girls, Sophie Kern's  magical worlds, Matt Lipp's provocative silhouettes and many more. You  can even see the work of pool gallery artist and CUTTERS curator James  Gallagher, called private moments, composed of his own signature  that includes vintage sex manuals and antique flea market findings.

Collage is an unexpected way of processing the world around us. Collage  is the recycling, reinterpretation and reprocessing of our collective  past, present and future.

CUTTERS2010
May 12th - July 15th 2010
Pool Gallery,  Berlin

Written for BLEND.

Chicks On Speed: Don't Art, Fashion, Music.

2010-05-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

For celebrating their 10th anniversary, Chicks on Speed in Berlin is organising a retrospective exhibition at the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre in Scotland. This is the first major solo exhibition in the UK of Chicks on Speed: an ever-changing multidisciplinary art group who apply punk-inspired DIY ethic to interrogate the boundaries of art, craft, fashion, music and new media.

Known globally for their melting-pot-style –  encompassing cutting-edge pop music, performance art, a record label,  collage graphics, painting and DIY fashion. Chick’s on Speed’s  practice is chaotic and firmly against sedative art.

The exhibition will open with a live art performance for invited guests  on June 4th. The highlight of their exhibition will be the unveiling of  the ESHOE, this is a stiletto shoe that can be utilised as an electric  guitar. They designed this stiletto together with the haute couture shoe  designer  Max  Kibardin. These shoes will be unveiled alongside Chicks on Speed’s  ever-growing collection of self made ‘objekt instruments’ – cigar-box  synthesizers, super suits with sewn-in body sensors that trigger  audio/video samples and two hats made in collaboration with Christophe  Coppens and Hangar.org.

The DCA galleries will be further transformed into a giant stage and  studio set for making music videos, experimenting with no-choreography  and ongoing craft projects live, including loom-weaving inspired by  Bauhaus design, lectures and workshops, film screenings of their fashion  archive and selected video pieces. To coincide with the exhibition, DCA  are co-producing a book with Booth-Clibborn Editions that will be  launched in September 2010.

Chicks  on Speed: Don't Art, Fashion, Music  
June 5th - August 8th, 2010
Dundee Contemporary  Arts , Dundee

Written for BLEND.

Copenhagen Photo Festival.

2010-05-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

This week the Copenhagen Photo Festival takes place in Denmark. The festival will present significant Danish and international contemporary photography in art institutions, galleries and urban space offering a wide range of contemporary photography, from art and fashion photography to documentary and photojournalism.

Copenhagen  Photo Festival will present a day and night program offering  exhibitions, workshops, artists talks and seminars, along with a private  view program of satellite exhibitions. Day  & Night is Copenhagen Photo Festival's main exhibition in  the public space of Copenhagen inner city. The exhibition is produced by  Copenhagen Photo Festival and will be presenting new contemporary art  photography from the international scene. Day focuses on fact and  fiction and Night focuses on nightlife and excesses. While Day takes  place in broad daylight, Night comes alive at dusk by being projected  onto storefront windows, buildings and screens throughout the city.

Copenhagen  Photo Festival  
May 12th - 20th 2010
Copenhagen

Written for BLEND.

Gemma Slack.

2010-05-23T13:26:00.001-07:00

Gemma Slack has a unique flair for combining extraordinary materials into tailored garments. Started at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in Fine Arts, she soon was encouraged to try fashion design. She enjoyed the process of translating her sculptures and paintings into garments and decided to change direction. Therefore she traded her paintbrushes for sewing kits and entered the Fashion Design Technology Womenswear course at London College of Fashion.

After a two-year internship with Gareth Pugh, she  launched her first gothic inspired collection in Spring/Summer '09. Her  sculpture background is translated into interesting shapes and  structured designs. With her A/W 2010 collection, she makes her debut in  menswear. The collection features all-black pieces including leather  and sheer dresses, face harnesses, furry sweaters, oversized collared  jackets and is inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Chocolate Puddle Cookies.

2010-05-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

Today it's Friday, so we post a simple, different and delicious recipe for you to begin your weekend with. This time we've got you a tasty treat. We thought you might be bored in this long Ascension weekend with the sad and cold weather outside. And it's always fun to bake your own chocolate sweets on a boring afternoon. For this cookie you only need six ingredients and a big bowl and wooden spoon. So get your ass off the couch and indulge yourself with this delicious crackle-edged puddle of chocolate. Beware you save enough dough before you bake the cookies though!

Recipe from Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks.

Written for BLEND.

Dear Diary.

2010-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Most people have, at one point in their life, kept a diary. Many stopped after a while and never looked back, whereas others kept on documenting everything that happens in life, both the good bits and the sad stuff. A diary can offer many curious insights into an unfolding adolescent life, for example, and often it's funny to read in, when looking back.

Dear  Diary, an exhibition put together by Ctrl.Alt.Shift,  showcases the diaries of selected people, such as Kurt Cobain, Courtney  Love and many others. Also a book has been created, called Dear Diary  book, that you can buy here.

With the book and exhibition you can also dwell into the diaries of  people you've never heard of before, dating back to the 19th century,  for a snapshot of an unknown life. The British Museum’s  collection of Irving Finkel diaries and Dan Eldon, who between the ages  of 15 and 22 kept a diary about his adventures in Kenya, both have their  journals on display as well.

But Ctrl.Alt.Shift.  is taking the concept one step further and is asking you to submit your  own diary, which will be continuously posted on the Diary blog.

Dear Diary
May 11th - May 23rd
SUPER  SUPERFICIAL, Gallery 7, London

Geschreven voor BLEND.

Fashion designers are the new rockstars.

2010-05-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

The designer duo Sanberg & Timonen created a series of T-shirts inspired by those old school Iron Maiden and Slayer band shirts, worn to death by every high school nerd in the early nineties. But the T-shirts are not just printed with normal bands; they depict different well-known fashion designers of our time.

From Viktor & Rolf to Rick Owens, Maison Martin  Margiela to Alber Elbaz, a label is more than its clothes. The broad  scope of influences our fashion heroes have, and the media attention  they get, is an ever-growing sphere.  Fashion designers are the  epicentres of a worldwide community; they are the sparks, leaders and  directors who inspire us all.

All featured designers are:
Alber Elbaz, Azzedine Alaia, Christopher Kane, Haider Ackermann, Jean  Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Maison Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs,  Miuccia Prada, Phoebe Philo, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Rodarte, Sonia  Rykiel, Stefano Pilati, Viktor&Rolf.

The shirts are 50 euros a piece and in size medium only. They are  created in a limited series. All profit goes to Medecins sans Frontiéres  and their efforts in Haiti. So it does not only look good, it does good  as well! You can buy them via the Brachfeld Gallery in Paris, where also the  opening exhibition of the designs took place.

Designer duo Sanberg  & Timonen about their designs:

Written for BLEND.

Loops - 3 YRS Anniversary.

2010-05-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Next Friday, May 14th, a special party will be held in Poema Utrecht. The young and talented producing duo Loops (We Are E) will throw their three-year anniversary party. And with all anniversaries, this needs to be celebrated.

And  well, what's a birthday without gifts? The idea is to bring your own  gift, but you don't have to leave empty-handed: a concept called Ruilhuisje,  which is Dutch for a place where you can exchange things, is present to  let you leave with a - maybe even better - gift. So bring your most  silly, playful, ugly, disgusting or pretty item, exchange it and go nuts  with it. And if you post your gift at the Ruilhuisje  facebook before Friday, you may even win tickets for the party.

But that's not all, the entire  Poema will be changed in a  birthday party, with decorations, 68 skippy balls and a cocktail bar  with cocktails created especially for this evening. For example, you can  get your own Loops cocktail, if you like.

Ok, you may think: and what about the music? Well, of course, a range of  DJ's will be present this evening. Besides a performance of the  birthday boys themselves, also minimal/techno duo  Rauwkost is present to  let you move your feet; both duo's with a live set of course. And Pete Bandit  and Jason Shae will combine their skills, just like Nuno dos  Santos and Pitto,  who will both give a back-to-back performance. Then we have DJs Esclé  and Peter Stangl (Elektroraum), all  the way from München, who will have their debut in Holland this night.  And last but not least, DJ DG Daan  has the honour to open the evening.

For your information:  Loops is a young  producing duo, consisting of Boris Acket and Sebastiaan Smink. The boys  have their own sound within the minimal/techno scene and have already  played on parties like Cocoon,  Time Warp NL and the well-known festival Mysteryland. Loops  is one of those acts were you can almost taste the talent when they  play their live act.

At the bottom of this blog you can see the promotion movie of the party.  Tickets are just 10 euro and you can buy them  here.

Loops  - 3 YRS Anniversary  
Friday May 14th, 11.00 PM till 6.00 AM
Poema ,  Utrecht

Written for BLEND.

Loops 3rd Anniversary Promo from Jerom Fischer on Vimeo.

Linder Sterling and Jon Savage: The Secret Public.

2010-05-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Jon Savage and Linder Sterling published The Secret Public in 1978, a book with photographs, montages and collages, capturing their perspective on urban life from a crucial period in British punk. Now, since May 10th, there is an exhibition about the book and the artists at the Boo-Hooray Gallery in New York.

The show is curated by  Johan Kugelberg, with whom Jon Savage is now working with on a book  about punk to be published by Rizzoli, 2010. The exhibition includes  original montages and collages, original posters, flyers, handbills and  the original publications.

Also presented are Jon Savage's photographs of urban decay in London and Manchester circa 1977-1978, some of which provided the basis for his collages and montages; and photographs taken by Linder at underground transvestite parties in Manchester at the club Mr. Dickens circa 1976. Some of the images in the book originally appeared as flyers and posters for the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Magazine and Factory Records. The name 'The Secret Public' was initially coined as a reaction to the fact very little of what they were reflecting in their work was mentioned in the mainstream or even the music press at that time.

Jon Savage is the author of acclaimed punk and youth culture books 'England’s Dreaming' and 'Teenage'. Linder Sterling is a visual, performance and installation artist represented in the Tate’s permanent collection.

The Secret Public - Linder Sterling & John Savage
May 10th - May 23rd 2010
Gallery Boo-Hooray, New York

Written for BLEND.

Dior Homme - The White Room.

2010-05-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

Snap, Share and Stop!

2010-05-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

MTV EXIT and Lomography both invite you to take part in the competition Snap, Share and Stop!. MTV EXIT is the global campaign to stop human trafficking and exploitation. If you had the chance, what global problem would you stop from happening? So share your snaps on Facebook, Twitter and blogs tagged Lomography and MTV Exit. The photographs with the most commented/voted submissions win the contest.

With the contest,  you can win several prices, like for example a Diana Mini Camera. The  winning photos will be showcased in the MTV  EXIT concerts via video projection, and featured on the printed  materials of the Indonesian MTV  EXIT events including posters and info cards. Hurry, cause you  only have 11 days to participate in the event!

Written for BLEND.

DJB24 - One day on the fly.

2010-05-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 27th, DJBroadcast challenges all creative talents to join them in the making of a magazine, but only within 24 hours during Off_Centre Festival in the Melkweg Amsterdam.

Are you a writer, photographer,  stylist, illustrator, copywriter or  graphic designer? Sign up for this  day and have your own contribution to  the magazine, which will be  distributed throughout Amsterdam in an  edition of 15.000 pieces.

The content of the DJB24 magazine is based on the disciplines music,  lifestyle, fashion, art, film, gear and games. That day, each discipline  will have a group consisting of young creatives and one professional.  64 pages need to be filled and designed, before it's send to the printer  at the end of the day.  

Vodafone challenges the participants to fulfill a creative concept  assignment. With Swatch, three photographers and one graphic designer  will make a fashion editorial. For Converse, a photographer and a  journalist will make a music reportage with the band Daily Bread. And  Pioneer asks our reviewers and artist of the festival to judge the  newest dj-gear items. 

The professionals that will accompany the creative teams: 
Sasja Kooistra (journalist, Volkskrant), 310k, Alex Slagter (graphic  designer, Maslow), Sander Kerkhof (journalist, Parool), Nalden (founder  Nalden, co-founder Wetransfer), Michael Oudman (editor in chief,  DJBroadcast), Jeroen Smeets (editor in chief, Reload), Rogier Heijning  (creative director, Lemon Scented Tea), Britta Möller (graphic designer,  Maslow), John Reich (creative director of story, Lemon Scented Tea),  Eric van den Bogaard (publisher, DJBroadcast), Renato Valdés Olmos  (founder & creative director, My name is E), Roel Determeijer  (photographer, DJBroadcast), Jan van Tienen (editor in chief, Vice).

Interested? You can apply  here till the 21st of  May.

DJB24 One day  on the fly  
Thursday May 27th 2010, 10.00 AM till 06.00 PM
Melkweg   Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

ToneMatrix.

2010-05-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

Everybody who just loves the Yamaha TENORI-ON synthesizer and just simply can't afford it, would love this website. For everyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about: the TENORI-ON synthesizer is a digital musical instrument with a 16x16 matrix of LED switches which allows everyone to play music intuitively, creating a visible music interface. Look at the movie below this blog for an example.

Now  Andre Michelle has also made a simple  sinewave synthesizer triggered by an 16step sequencer for the web. Click  here to check it out. How does it work? When  you click on the squares, each triggered step causes a force on the  underlaying wave-map. And this causes a repeating sound by which you can  add as many sounds as you like. There is even a version for your  iphone: Pak1Sound1.  I just think it's fun to play with. Or maybe an inspiration for the New Talent Night \ Music Special on May 19th?

Written for BLEND.

Trailerpark Festival.

2010-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

Trailerpark Festival 2010 is a three-day Copenhagen-based music and art festival organized by ArtRebels. It features more than a hundred people's collective creativity and presents it in a unique way to more than 5000 happy participants.

The festival's musical programm offers a combination  of new and innovative bands, dj's and producers; mostly Danish, but also  a range of artists from other countries. For example, the five-piece  indie rock band The Kissaway Trail form Odense, Denmark. Or  the also Danish Raz Ohara, with his soul, hiphop, electro and  techhouse based music. And the young producer Eim Ick  from Copenhagen, with his own minimal & techno sound. But also the  electro pop trio We Have Band from the UK or the German new  wave, indie & electro band Rework.  Anyway, this festival has enough musical diversity to offer!

But not just music, also art is a great part of the festival: the art  program is as vibrant and significant as the music. Trailerpark 2010 has  a rather extraordinary artist line-up. Everything between the  categories of installations, visuals, posters, performances to the  actual decoration of the trailers and festival space is covered. The  festival is a complete Trailerpark universe, where the play between  genres will give birth to interesting new fusions of art, music and  visuality.

'With a mixed constellation of Copenhagens finest and international  friends we aim for an expression that is bright, carnevalistic,  colourful and a bit crazy, at the same time as it has something dark,  edgy, playful and humorous to it. The general feel will be something  like one big innovative playground. A place where creative energy will  mobilize to break down the barriers between established and underground,  Danish and Nordic, and in the end between artist and the audience.'  thus the Trailerpark  website promises.

Well, most of the line-up isn't published yet, but will be in the  upcoming weeks. Tickets for the festival are only 300 DDK,  which is just about 40 euro for the whole weekend!

Trailerpark  Festival
30th, 31st July & 1st August 2010
Copenhagen

An impression of Trailerpark Festival 2008:
TRAILER PARK FESTIVAL 2008 from ArtRebels on Vimeo.

Written for BLEND.

Nuit Blanche 2010.

2010-05-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

On the 19th of June the night festival Nuit Blanche will be held in Amsterdam. Former night mayors Josine Neyman & Kristel Mutsers keep their promise: they promised Amsterdam a night without sleep and filled with discoveries and inspiration. This art festival, originated from cities like Paris and Toronto, will change the city from 7 o'clock in the evening till 7 o'clock in the morning into a podium with a wide range of contemporary art.

Nuit Blanche  offers a varied program which includes theater, performance, fine art,  music, but also installation and light projects, mostly coming from the  underground art circuit of Amsterdam. You can have diner in the  Tolhuistuin in North by the Table de Nuit, a restaurant especially built  for this night. Or you can go to the Central Station, where you can  visit the Rockit Cinema, a place where musicians use classic movies or  old archives from the Dutch Railways to make new soundtracks on the  spot.

But that's not all. Everywhere you go, you find peculiar tracks. A  mysterious person or message, a wanderer on the corner. Unravel the  mystery. Play the adventure game with your telephone and GPS, developed  by Golfstromen in collaboration with Waag Society. 

In the upcoming weeks, more will be revealed about this free night  event. So keep track of their website to discover all the happenings of  this festival. 

Nuit  Blanche  
19th June 2010
Amsterdam

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ART FOR THE WORLD [THE EXPO].

2010-05-07T11:22:00.000-07:00

ART FOR THE WORLD [THE EXPO] is one of the major projects of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The exhibition takes place from May 1st to October 31th. The event is attended by eleven Chinese and nine international artists.

The World Expo  in Shanghai in 2010 is the event that marks the beginning of the 21st  century. Twenty artists of international repute showcase their  sculptures along the Expo Boulevard. As different as the works are, all  of them deal with the urban situation, while also relating to tradition.

The monumental sculptures hold up mirrors of perception for exhibition  visitors, inviting their participation and encouraging the development  of new perspectives on the works as wel as new discoveries of different  aspects of the site. The art works are on display on the 1045m long and  140m wide Expo Boulevard and they turn it into an eventful passage way  that promises to inspire fresh aesthetic insights.

Next are some of the art works and the story behind it:

Julian Opie  uses LED technology to form life-size panels, featuring electronic  stick figures walking randomly in both directions. These panels reflect  in a virtual way the pedestrians walking along the main alley of the  Expo Boulevard.

Sui Jianguo found a beautiful small stone on the building site of World  Expo, and expanded it, using the honeycomb netting structure to create a  massive hill.

ART FOR THE  WORLD [THE EXPO]
May 1st - October 31st 2010
Expo Boulevard, Shanghai

Written for BLEND.

Where On Earth Have You Been?

2010-05-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

A lot will be written about the visual artists working today. This is true about any era of Art History and this period is no exception. Mather:Kunst in conjunction with Streetlab, tries to capture these great artists of our time in an exhibition: Where On Earth Have You Been?.

May  7th is the opening of the new exhibition at Streetlab  Projectspace Amsterdam. The exhibition features art work from a  huge array of contemporary artists from around the globe.

The forthcoming installment of this survey at  Streetlab  highlights work from more than 80 contemporary artists. Work from, for  example, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Blek Le Rat, Ryan McGinnes,  Evan Hecox,  Jim Houser and Cody  Hudson is represented here.

The goal of this survey is to educate about the importance of these  artists and their respective movements in contemporary art. Movements  that grow out of a DIY lifestyle, jap pop culture, graffiti culture,  stencil art culture, street art culture, skateboarding culture, design  meets fine art culture and any other number of subcultures that  penetrate our visual landscape everywhere and everyday. 

Where  On Earth Have You Been?  
May 7th - 17th 2010
StreetLab  Projectspace , Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

Grace Jones by Chris Levine.

2010-05-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Light artist Chris Levine, renowned for his 3D and still images, has created a series of 3D holographic portraits of pop icon Grace Jones. An multimedia affair featuring lightboxes, lazers, video and a specially commisioned soundscape.

Chris Levine,  the groundbreaking light artist, works with 3D, laser and LED to create  the most sensorial and spiritual work of today. Mostly known for his  portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, this time Chris collaborates with Grace  Jones to offer a new exciting approach to portraiture and video making.  This show, to which entry is free, will also be used to launch Grace’s  new video Love You To Life, which Chris Levine directed.

This exhibition, called Stillness at the Speed of Light, is on show from  April 30rd until May 15th 2010 at The Vinyl Factory Gallery  in London.

Stillness at the Speed of Light - Chris Levine
30th April - 15th May 2010
The Vinyl  Factory Gallery, London

Written for BLEND.

Ellen Rogers.

2010-05-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ellen Rogers is a London based photographer. All of her work is analogue and she doesn't use any digital equipment or manipulation for enhancing, other than scanning the end result. She likes to experiment within the traditional darkroom to come up with these beautiful soft photos.

Most of Ellens  work is fashion and portrait based, however she has also created some  films in the same rustic fashion. Besides perfecting her portfolio of  soft images which often involve dark and quiet scenes or emotive  subtlety, she collects vintage cameras and comics.

Rogers is also a budding filmmaker. She uses Super 8 to focus on a wider  angle approach to her subjects using varying textures and experiments  to find the perfect results. She studies various Druidic and Runic  teachings as well and is fascinated by religion, scripture, unsolved  mysteries and ancient history which explains a lot about her photos.

Graphic Design Festival.

2010-05-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

From the 8th to 30rd of May 2010 the second edition of the Graphic Design Festival Breda (GDFB) will take place. GDFB is a biannual festival on graphic design. The festival shows the current developments of this kind of design and a large part of it is on display in public spaces.

The  festival is surprising for the public and professionals by showing the  communicative powers of graphic design within our daily visual culture.  Talented designers connect graphic design, technology, social context  and the individual (the consumer) in their work.

The festival is not only meant for designers, but is also aiming for a  broader public. In three weeks GDFB will reach the audience with  presentations in the public space, thus stimulating thought about  personal connection to visual culture. Also, the festival offers the  professional audience insight in contemporary developments in the craft  with exhibitions, lectures and workshops.

In 2010, the theme of the festival is 'decoding'. Todays digitial as  well as realistic surroundings consist mainly of codes. Examples are  language, barcodes, login codes, scripts, postal codes and telephone  numbers. During GDFB, you can see how designers take information, images  and interaction to hack, remix, sample, blend and code. Different  workshops, exhibitions, lectures and presentations will have you  experience how we handle images in our daily environment.

Want to know what else the festival has to offer? Watch the programm here.

Graphic  Design Festival Breda
May 8th - May 30rd
Breda

GDFB 2010 leader from GDFB.tv on Vimeo.

Ethnic Costumes.

2010-04-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Third year students of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp present a collection of eight silhouettes in the gallery of MoMu Antwerp.

This collection is based on a  former study of an ethnic culture. This study led to surprising  discoveries, which, combined with the students own experience, gave rise  to an original collection. The students have recreated a typical  costume or dress from an ethnic culture as a necessary period of  contemplation, before beginning to design the collection. Using the  ethnic costume and resources as a reference, the colours, fabrics,  patterns, techniques, accesoires and styling of the collection are  developed and realised.

An inspirational and innovative exhibition, if you ask me. The creations  are still on display till the 2nd of June and entrance is free. 

Ethnic  Costumes  
February 17th till June 2nd, 2010
MoMu  Gallery,  Antwerp

Written for BLEND.

Jan Banning: Comfort Women.

2010-04-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Kunsthal Rotterdam presents a series of impressive portraits of so-called Comfort Women made by photographer Jan Banning. The photographs are close-ups of the faces of very old women from Java, Sumatra and the Maluku Islands; these pictures tell the incomprehensibly sad stories of these comfort women.

At a time when so many people  still choose to remain silent about what has happened, these women were  courageous enough to share their painful history of involuntary  prostitution, forced upon them by the Japanese occupator in World War  II. Their eyes tell the story of a past that will never leave their  minds. With this series of portraits Banning breaks through the taboo  history of ten thousand of comfort women from Asia which has been kept  silent for so long.

Photographer Jan  Banning and journalist Hilde Janssen traveled through Indonesia  for about two years to find women who wanted to tell their story to the  world. They created two books: one with the pictures of the almost fifty  women, called Comfort Women, and the book Shame and Innocence, the  repressed war history of comfort girls in Indonesia.

Jan Banning - Comfort Women
April 24th - August 29th 2010
Kunsthal, Rotterdam

Written for BLEND.

Bea Szenfeld: Sur la Plage.

2010-04-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

This month, the new fashion collection of Bea Szenfeld has premiered at Designgalleriet in Stockholm. Instead of using traditional tailoring techniques, she continues to work with paper as a dressing material. The silhouettes are inspired by the fifties, with slim wasplike waist, but are also futuristic, architectonic compositions. In the exhibiton one will see creations that resemble the oceanic demons of Jules Vernes and mythical folklore of sailors.

Bea, born in  Poland, already collaborated with other designers and companies like  Hello Kitty, Stella  McCartney and Tommy  Hilfiger, but then in a more commercial way. Today she is  recognised for her theatrical fashion shows and innovative design.

Sur la Plage – haute papier collection by Bea Szenfeld 
April 9th - April 30rd 2010
Designgalleriet ,  Stockholm

Written for BLEND.

ITS#NINE.

2010-04-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, the finalists of ITS#NINE, International Talent Support, have been announced. ITS is a platform for creative minds and has reached edition number NINE. ITS - a project created & developed by the agency EVE - is among the most important international platforms to discover and support young talents. It is a network of professionals, opinion leaders, international press, students and teachers from all over the world to share and evaluate the highest expressions of creativity in the fields of fashion design, accessories design and photography.

The ITS#NINE  edition is going to play with the creative theme of A Confederation of  Fantastic Voyagers: a bunch of valorous pioneers whose mission is to go  where no man has gone before. This competition will start on Friday,  July 16th and will continue till Saturday, July 17th with an event that  will reach its top with the award ceremony for the winners of the three  categories: ITS#FASHION, ITS#ACCESSORIES and ITS#PHOTO.

The finalists have some amazing work to show you. Check the pictures  below and the  ITS website  for more.

ITS#NINE  
July 16-17 2010
Trieste, Italy

Written for BLEND.

Kirsty Ward

Sarah Williams

Michael Kampe

David LaChapelle: The Rape of Africa.

2010-04-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

The first London exhibition of David LaChapelle will take place at the Robilant & Voena gallery in London this month.

David  LaChapelle started his career in fashion photography, video and  editorial, but over the past few years LaChapelle has focused only on  his interest in fine art. In The Rape of Africa,  he gives critique on western consumerism by making apparent its effect  on the African continent through references to conquest and plunder,  child soldiers and unethical gold and diamond mining. Drawing on Sandra  Botticelli's iconic Venus and Mars (housed at the National Gallery,  London) for inspiration. LaChapelle shows an apparently glitzy, bold and  glamorous image to give us a very disturbing reality.

David  LaChapelle  's work is exhibited in museums worldwide; currently  at the MOCA  Taipei, and recently LACMA Los Angeles, the  Monnaie de Paris, Brooklyn  Museum New York, and forthcoming at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

David  LaChapelle   - The Rape of Africa
April 27th - May 25th 2010
Robilant  & Voena gallery , London

Written for BLEND.

Vermin Twins.

2010-04-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the concert of the We Have Band in Tivoli Utrecht - which was awesome by the way! - and before they started there was ofcourse another act to begin the evening with. This Belgian group, named the Vermin Twins, blew me away! What a fantastic duo (and sometimes even threesome) is that!

The music they  make is a gathering of pop, dance and electronica. Fundemental for their  act is the use of turntables, but besides that they change and add  instruments like for instance electric guitar, singing with voice  deformation and rapping. Throughout the whole act dancing is central:  the girl of the group seems like a kind of snake with the moves she  makes.

The description on their website about them says: ' Vermin Twins  like melody and rhythm, jumping insects and funky mysteries. Vermin Twins  like to sing and dance, scream and jump or slap the bass with a big fat  thumb.'

I just loved the energy they bring to their act, even though the  audience wasn't that great yesterday: they rocked the stage. Their act  is very innovative and surprising if you ask me. 

Curious about this amazing act? May 22th they'll be in Holland again at  013 in Tilburg. Or you can ofcourse visit  them in one of the cities of our southern Belgian neighbors! Just check  their myspace  for more information.

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Chile Lime Tequila Popcorn.

2010-04-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Every Friday I'll post a simple, different and delicious recipe to begin your weekend with. Today's recipe is maybe not that simple, but I found it rather funny. With this snack, fresh popcorn is tossed with melted butter, lime juice, jalapeno peppers, red pepper flakes, cumin and a splash of tequila. Maybe a good recipe for a lazy Friday night with a movie and sleepy dog on your couch?

Recipe from Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks.

Written for BLEND.

Enter:Space.

2010-04-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Bright Young Things Gallery is a small gallery in Amsterdam, showing the work of distinctive and talented, up and coming young artists in contemporary art and photography. Today the gallery opens the exhibition Enter:Space, in collaboration with Streetlab. Katrien Franken, Sabrina van den Heuvel, Annika Keijser, Sandder Lanen, Karol Lasia and Michel Willemsen will show their vision of the space around us and man's relation to it.

Enter:Space portrays our surroundings,  tangible or not, as the leading character in photo and video work. How  do people influence the landscape or atmosphere around them? How do  surroundings influence people? What do surroundings or atmosphere,  visible or not, reveal about human presence? All these questions centre  around a non human subject that says everything about our humanity.

Enter:Space  
Opening: April 23th 8.00 PM
till April 29th
Streetlab_Projectspace

Written for BLEND.

 

Fashion Stills.

2010-04-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

In the upcoming months an international photography exhibtion is on display in different Sofitel Hotels in a number of cities in Europe and North America.

Four star photographers, Derek Hudson,  Cathleen  Naundorf, Jean-Marie Périer and Gérard  Uféras, immortalize faces of the fashion runway and capture  uniques instants from the secret world of haute couture; behind the  scenes at Dior,  Chanel, Jean Paul  Gaultier, Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent.

From the elegance of  Gérard Uféras' models to the intimates  snapshots of Derek  Hudson. From Cathleen Naundorf's polaroids to Jean-Marie  Périer's eccentric poses with the greatest fashion designers.  The four photographers tell the enigmatic and sensual world that fashion  is.

The fascinating photographs are chosen by  Polka Galerie  in Paris and are exhibited in cities like London, Brussels, Berlin and  New York. So if you're by any chance in the neighbourhood, you need to  check this unique fashion photography exhibition.

Fashion  Stills - Si la mode m'était contée  
Februari 10th 2010 - Januari 3rd 2011

LONDON: february - march 2010 
BRUSSELS: april - june 2010
BERLIN: june - august 2010
MUNICH: august - october 2010
ROME: october 2010 - january 2011

NEW YORK: february - april 2010 
WASHINGTON: april - june 2010
CHICAGO: june - august 2010
LOS ANGELES: september - october 2010
MONTREAL: november 2010 - january 2011

Written for BLEND.

Gallery Weekend Berlin.

2010-04-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

In the weekend of April 30th till May 2th, Gallery Weekend Berlin is the unofficial opener of the spring art season in Berlin. With 40 Gallery Weekend openings and countless others spotted around the city, this three-day art extravaganza will have enough to show you.

Andreas Murkudis Berlin is one of them. Besides the new Skull from Nymphenburg Porcelain, the first fragrance of Maison Martin Margiela, new design pieces from E15, an exhibition of the fashion designer Lutz as wel as 20 meters of silk dresses in a range of 143 colours by designer Kostas Murkudis will be presented.

Two Window Project and Janine Bean Gallery present in and in front of the current gallery exhibitions areas, the performance Blond Dame mit Berliner Pfannkuchen by the infamous drag queen Chicago Rose. The theme of this performance is Berlin - the topic is also the focus of the painters in each gallery. It's Berlin presented from 3 very different perspectives.

And this is just a handful of what's to see and experience in Berlin in the Gallery Weekend. All the gallery openings are drawn on a map and all the info is bundled on the very handy Gallery Weekend Berlin website.

Gallery Weekend Berlin
April 30th till May 2th
Berlin

Written for BLEND.

Gabriella Gonzalez: Victorian SCI-FI Surgery.

2010-04-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Central Saint Martins graduate Gabriella Gonzalez recently launched her handmade A/W ‘10-’11 accessories collection called Victorian SCI-FI Surgery.

This work was inspired by exploring feelings of  emotional restrain and uncertainty about position in time. Gabriella  uses escapism to create a subconscious reality were time has no  boundaries. She collects data in an attempt to discover her purpose in  the present. The collection mixes periodes and materials to create a  historical camouflage making it difficult to associate with a particular  period in time. The pieces are entirely handmade adding a personal and  emotional connection to each individual piece. The collection consists  mostly out of brown and cream leathers, bronze fixtures and old stamps  which gives the appearance of being made from reminisce of an abandoned  Victorian house.

Victorian SCI-FI Surgery   is available to  order at Machine-A  boutique, 60 Berwick Street, Soho, London.

Written for BLEND.

Maura Sullivan: As it May Be.

2010-04-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

As it May Be is a solo exhibition with photographs from the New York-based artist Maura Sullivan (1971). Sullivan's photographs are mostly of people: portraits or pictures from children, all in black and white. Sullivan makes short movies in a single photograph. The pictures have meaning, words and tension in it, but without searching for a deeper meaning they still leave you with beautiful, well-styled photography. The images reveal enough to draw you in and withold enough to make you curious.

Sullivan prefers the hands-on approach of working in  the darkroom, were she can draw with light. The silver gelatin prints  are printed on fiber matte paper. Each of her prints has a painterly  quality revealing subtle details of film grain as well as great depth  and contrast. Her work is also part of the permanent collection of The  Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

Maura  Sullivan started her artistic career exploring writing and  drawing and furthered her studies in photography at the International  School of Photography in New York City. She is also a freelance art  director for film and print. All of these elements combined create  exciting unexpected compostions and results in wonderful pieces of art.

Maura  Sullivan - As it May Be
May 25th - July 17th, 2010
Kahmann  Gallery, Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

Versace's Home Collection.

2010-04-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes fashion designers want to explore a different kind of field instead of their own familiar fashion designing profession. So Versace did: last week the Italian super brand launched a furniture and glass collection at Milan's Design Week.

Versace's  fashion is well-known for its loud colour scheme and daring attitudes.  So it makes sense that Versace's  new Home collection follow suit. Sunburst, for example, is a crystal  round table with a base composed by 14 elements in chromed metal that  conveys the strength of a solar explosion. The Vanitas armchair is more  subtle, at least in its colour: it's presented in an all-black shade.  Also, in collaboration with Venini,  Versace  launched a collection of hand blown vases.

The two classic Italian brands  Versace and Venini  each bring their characteristic aesthetics and superior craftmanship to  the collection, which will be available in Versace stores next autumn.

Written for BLEND.

Mwah presents Job Rompa.

2010-04-19T11:40:00.001-07:00

The fact that graphic design is also a form of art is proven by graphic designer Job Rompa, if you ask me. One whole month his work will be shown at the first Expo 444 in the Gallery of Mwah in Rotterdam. The opening of the exhibition, with six of his pieces on display, will be on May 14th from 6.00 PM.

Mwah is a fresh and promising concept of graphic designer Ropp Schouten and independent copywriter Erwin Pols. Mwah contains texts with a twist in powerful typographic surroundings. Erwin and Ropp focus purely on the textual creative content and typographic design of the message, without using images.

This time it's not about Ropp's and Erwin's work, but of fellow graphic  designer Job Rompa.  Check his work at the bottom of this blog!

Expo 444 - Job Rompa 
May 14th till June 14th
Mwah Gallery, Rotterdam 
Opening: May 14th at 6.00 PM

Written for BLEND.

Fashionshow Patroon Ontrafeld.

2010-04-19T11:26:00.001-07:00

In addition of the exhibition Stof tot nadenken from Alexander van Slobbe and the associated project Patroon Ontrafeld, the Central Museum in Utrecht organises a final fashionshow, next weekend, on April 25th. In the show, 25 models will show the best designs of the contest which was based on the one released pattern Joy-CM by Alexander van Slobbe.

The project Patroon  Ontrafeld was an addition to the exhibition Stof  tot nadenken: one of the spaces in the museum was transformed  in a working place full of sewing-machines and other sewing tools. It  was possible for visitors to purchase the pattern which Alexander  created and make it their own. When ready, the visitors could hand in  their own 'Alexander van Slobbe' for the contest.

Now the deadline is crossed and the 25 best designs are selected out of  at least 100 entries and will be shown in the fashionshow at the museum.  With the show, there will be a jury which will judge the designs by  form, originality and choice of fabric. The jury will consist of John de  Greef (fashion editor with  Elsevier), Susanne  Vegter (Consultant Design, Styling & Creative Management  with HTNK  fashion recruitment & consultancy), Melody Deldjou FardCentral  Museum).
 (conceptual designer) and Ninke Bloemberg (project curator fashion and  costumes with the Central  Museum).

The winner receives 250 euro and a tour through the fashion depot of the  Central  Museum, which is normally not open for public. The winning  design will also be shown next to the designs of Alexander till the end  of the exhibition Stof  tot nadenken.

Curious what these visitors created? Tickets cost only 5 euro and can be  purchased at the  website  of the Central Museum.

Fashionshow  Patroon Ontrafeld  
Sunday April 25th, 2.30 PM till 4.30 PM
Central  Museum Utrecht

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Ravioli Pasta Salad.

2010-04-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

From this week, every Friday I'll post a simple, different and delicious recipe to begin your weekend with. Today's kick-off represents this tasty Ravioli Pasta Salad Recipe, full of seasonal ingredients and springtime treats like asparagus, greens, and peas. Enjoy!

Recipe from Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks.

Written for BLEND.

Stars and Models.

2010-04-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Stars and Models is the theme of this years International Photography Festival 2010 in seaside Knokke-Heist in Belgium: the place to be for photography and audivisual art at this moment. Over a period of ten weeks, the work of several contemporary photographers and artists will be on display at various locations throughout Knokke-Heist. Every day publicity, fashion magazines, and newspapers show us images of famous people such as photographers, models, politicians and authors.

This years'  guest photographer is Tim Walker.  Visitors can discover this London-based photographer's original oeuvre  in the Sharpoord Cultural Centre. Tim Walker is a  fashion photographer of magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair and many more.

New to this years' edition is the exhibition Pavilion, contructed  especially for the Photography  Festival, on the beach opposite the Rubensplein. The pavilion  will form the backdrop for several exhitions, including The Set To Get  In With by Sir Cecil Beaton. Beaton has harboured a lifelong fascination  with the glamorous world of high society. This exhibition offers an  historical overview of how Cecil Beaton captured the stars of his time.

Alongside the exhibitions by Tim Walker and  Sir Cecil Beaton, there will be an extensive and varied list of other  exhibitions, a significant of which consisting Belgian photography. In  accordance with tradition, the World Press Photo will  also be present at the Photography Festival. The  winning pictures of this event will premiere in the Cultural Centre on  May 13th.

Finally, several art galleries in Knokke-Heist will also be hosting  exhibitions as part of this years Photography Festival. In  fact, the works of national and international artists and photographers  will be on display until June 13th in a record number of galleries in  and around the city.

International  Photography Festival - Stars and Models
March 28th - June 13th 2010
Knokke-Heist, Belgium

Written for BLEND.

Andrew Moore: Making History.

2010-04-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

From Cuba to Russia to Detroit, American photographer Andrew Moore seeks out disused, wrecked buildings and captures the moment that nature stakes her claim on their ravaged greatness. Fifteen of Moore's works are on display at Galerie Alex Daniels, Reflex Amsterdam, from April 10th to June 7th 2010.

Over the past 30 years, Moore has travelled for months  at a time to track down these secret places that are often the sad  consequences of modernisation or political turmoil. Moore embraces  complexity in his work; the images have multiple narrative threads,  whether they are cultural, historical or pictorial. He leaves it up to  the viewer to pick up on a few of these clues.

Part of this complexity is also due to the rich combination of artistic  influences that inform his photographic style. There is a strong  painterly quality to Moore's photographs, both in scale, texture and use  of colour. The vitality of his palette, and his carefully chosen tonal  combinations provide the building blocks of his work.

Moreover, his new  book will be presented at the exhibition, also called Making History by Andrew Moore.

Andrew Moore  - Making History
April 10th - June 7th, 2010
Galerie Alex Daniels
Amsterdam

Written for BLEND.

New book: Fashion Blogs.

2010-04-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Fashion is communication. Fashion needs to be communicated. Nowadays everyone is able to do this: the Internet is full with fashion bloggers all over the world.

Kirstin Hanssen and Felicia Nitzsch thought it would be time to bundle these bloggers in a book. They started a research by interviewing fashion bloggers all over the world. They wanted questions to be answered like: who are the persons behind the blogs? What moves fashion bloggers to spend so much time on running a web log? Who or what are their news resources?

The main content of the book is divided into five  categories: fashion  journalism, street style photography, party  photography, personal style  blogs and men's style. And a separate index  holds more than five hundred  fashion blogs URL's. Featured bloggers  are Style  Bubble, A Shaded View  On Fashion,  Glamcanyon,  Abdul  Lagerfield, Moderniteter and many  more.

The new book is showing this interesting phenomenon, blogging, that is   conquering the world by storm. And at the same time, it's a visual   spectacle which presents today's fashion in all its aspects. 

Kirstin  Hanssen, Felicia Nitzsche - Fashion Blogs: From musings on  personal  taste to style reports around the globe (d'Jonge Hond), 176  pages,  price 22,50 euro  

Written for BLEND.

Michel Willemsen: Mixed Media.

2010-04-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

This friday, Michel Willemsen will present his solo show where you can see his newest work. The exhibition is called Mixed Media, named after the mix of media he uses in his work: paintings, photography, video, film and graphic design.

Michel gets inspiration for his work out of a lot of  things: music, the  city, art, photography, people, love, politics and  his own life. With a  mix of techniques he tries to create satisfaction  out of his work by  making striking artworks. Sometimes well thought-out  from the beginning, sometimes created spontaneously in  the moment.  Most of the time pictures are the foundation of his work;  pictures  found in magazines or created by himself.

I can tell you much more about Michel but I think it's more interesting   to just check his work and let the paintings and other artworks speak   for itself (see below). Tomorrow, April 16th, is the opening of the   exhibition  Mixed Media  at SPRMRKT:  SPR Specials. Check it out!

Mixed Media    - Michel  WIllemsen
Opening Friday April 16th 17.00-21.00
SPR Specials Niewezijds Voorburgwal 262

Written for BLEND.

Tupperware / plastic fantastic.

2010-04-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I was just watching the news when the next quote came along: 'every 2,5 seconds there starts a Tupperware party somewhere in this world'. First thought was: oh my god, what's wrong with this world and why is this on the news? It seems to be a very popular thing among certain groups of people.

Anyhow, the Gemeentemuseum  in The  Hague has seemed to pick up on this 'trend' and dedicated a  whole  exhibition to these plastic household items. They exhibit a range  of Tupperware   objects from the fourties, fifties and sixties in colours like pink and   other pastels. Tupperware   even seemed to have contributed to feminism back in the days.

Curious about the history of these little plastic household miracles (I  would be surprised if you would, the title of the exhibition even says  "I know you'll be excited!") or maybe just bored? Take a nice little  trip to The Hague and let the plastic tell you it's story. 

Tupperware /  plastic fantastic  
April 3rd till August 15th 2010
Gemeentemuseum ,  The Hague

Written for BLEND.