FRANCOISE HARDY

Ever just feel like you could use a little more Francoise Hardy in your life to lull you to sleep?

bonne nuit.

xo.s

VANESSA BRUNO SS2010

vanessabruno-Le Bel Eté-SS2010 from presse vanessabruno on Vimeo.

I saw stills of this video on Scout Holiday - one of my favourite blogs ever- last week and I can't take my eyes off of it..... or Lou, of course. How can you??

Spring/Summer! (It's snowing where I am)

I shared it on facebook and the boys thought it was boring. This one's for the girls.....

click click Vanessa Bruno

xo.s

SANTIAGO YDANEZ

David Delfin and Gorka Postigo; collectors of Ydanez' work, in their home

I stumbled across the work of Santiago Ydanez very recently and haven't stopped staring. I have always been especially fond of portraiture for the obvious reasons: its ability to convey an acute and wide variety of human emotions; conveyance of striking realism or shocking mutation as seen in expressionist work; and always the intense reading of the EYES.

Ydanez works on 200cm canvases with minimalist colouring. Many of his pieces are done with more variation in hue, but I've chosen the above to showcase because I LOVE the strong contrast in his use of black and white.

What's most intriguing is his brushstroke; his work leans toward expressionism in its wild application of paint, however, it is evident that there is extreme calculation in his gestures. His portraits are not born of improvisation or of loose emotional abandon, but of painting used as an instrument and not an aim unto itself. It is an extremely successful pairing of opposite schools of thought.

While researching Ydanez I came across one of the reference images he had shot himself for one of his many 'untitled' works (top). He covers his subjects' faces in everything from (what looks to be) food colouring to whipped cream before photographing their screaming, twisted visages.

It's brilliant. So powerful. Be sure to have a look at the gallery video!

click click

xo.s

THAT'S NICE

Back in April I did an iPhoto mashup-type post that I'm feeling again today. Enjoy.

xo.s

WALLPAPER GRAD DIRECTORY 2010

Valentin Vodev, RCA, London

Robin Grasby, Northumbria University, UK

Norihiro Sueyoshi, Tama Art University, Tokyo

Niek Van Der Heijden, Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Karoline Lagerqvist, Beckmans College of Art & Design, Stockholm

Johanna Hartzeim, Koln International Academy of Design, Germany

Joel Escalona, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico

Jaebom Jeong, Hongik University, Seoul (love this)

Helena Karelson, Kingston University, London

Giannina Capitani, RCA, London

Edward Robinson, Northumbria University, UK

Delphine Frey, ECAL, Lausanne

Daniel Svahn, Beckmans College of Design, Sweden

Colin Kelly, Savannah College of Art & Design

Bjorn Jorund Bilkstad, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway

(This piece was chosen for the cover; a storage unit of axiometric cubes that look

shallow from a distance but reveal their depth as you approach)

Beatrice Durandard, ECAL, Lausanne

Bastian Bischoff and Per Emanuelsson, HDK, Gothenburg

(of Humans Since 1982)

Wallpaper always knows. Each year the magazine showcases their favourite pieces by graduates from some of the best schools all over the world, and I'm thrilled that this year's 'Design' category is showcasing an equal number of female students to their male counterparts. My graduating class had about 7 women in it total, out of nearly a hundred. Boys, don't go into ID if you're looking to pick up.....

But I digress.

Geometry, hand crafting, and allowing materials to rule seem to be the focus this year. I only chose my favourites of the favourites, so have a look at Wallpaper's site for the rest, as well as for grads chosen in Illustration, Fashion, Photography, Architecture and Graphics.

The future looks bright.

click click

xo.s

ps- if you follow regularly, you'll recognize the last piece: 'Clock Clock' by 'Humans Since 1982'!