Monthly archives:January 2015
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9 years ago
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My cousin, Carine Williams, a litigation lawyer based in New York, represents people and companies who are under government investigation or prosecution. Her pro bono work has included helping to overturn the convictions of people like Herman Wallace, who spent nearly 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any other person in the United States, for a crime he didn't commit. "I enjoy working with folks through what can be a very harrowing ordeal--the criminal legal process," Williams shares. Despite her heroic work, Williams remains modest: "There's no single achievement I'm most proud of, but I am especially honored (and humbled) that my clients trust me, value my judgement, and seek my guidance with mammothly difficult decision-making."
Click on link below to find out more about this crusader’s most prized fashion items after the jump.
Black Pants
I love clothes that remind me to feel good in the skin I'm already in. This most often involves figure fitting pieces in stretchy--forgiving--fabrics. I'm also a sucker for any textile that feels rich and smooth to the touch. These pants are perfection. I can wear them anywhere--as fancy as it gets or as grimey. They're completely comfy. The leather patches along the leg are buttery soft. Most often I wear them with a black top, which makes me feel both understated and kind of bad ass.
Lela Rose Dress
My most glamorous aunt--who was with me while I was shopping for work clothes--insisted that I buy favor[...]
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9 years ago
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Given the racial landscape of the US in recent months surrounding the decisions in both the Michel Brown and Eric Garner cases, RESPOND which is currently on view in Brooklyn at Smack Mellon, really gets at the heart of the matter. Smack Mellon organized the show given the public response to the controversial verdict in the grand jury decision not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner. Garner was killed on July 17th in Staten Island when a New York City police officer put him in a choke hold.
Smack Mellon directors Kathleen Gilrain and Suzanne Kim, changed their exhibition schedule to accommodate this show. The show features the work of two hundred artists and the gallery received over six hundred submissions for the exhibition. The 200 pieces of art fill the Smack Mellon space to an overwhelming capacity. Almost every square inch of the gallery is being occupied by a work of art. Many of the works are displayed salon style in the two story high gallery space. The works in the RESPOND show are diverse and feature a range of artists and mediums including video, sculpture, installation, photography and even textile work.
Skinned by Hannah Hart
Given the show's theme and the overwhelming response to the call for work, the pieces featured in the exhibition are on point. Some of the artists featured in the show include Dread Scott who has also had work shown at the Whitney Museum of Art, Heather Heart who currently has work on view at the Brooklyn Museu[...]
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9 years ago
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The words “prodigy” and “wunderkind” have often been used to describe filmmaker Xavier Dolan, with good reason. Not yet 26, the French-Canadian auteur has recently released his fifth feature, Mommy, to general acclaim, including a Jury Prize win at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. A sort of bookend to his first film, 2009's J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother), Mommy stars Dolan regular Anne Dorval as Diane, the desperate mother of violence-prone, ADHD-addled Steve (a very believable Antoine Olivier Pilon). Their raucous, codependent relationship is tempered by the arrival of a quiet, secretive neighbor, played by Suzanne Clément (in a complete departure from her outgoing persona in Dolan’s 2012 Laurence Anyways). As each of the characters in this unsettling, emotional film struggles with personal demons, they form an unusual bond.
Contrary to his previous films I Killed My Mother, Heartbeats (2010) and Tom at the Farm (2013), Dolan -- an actor since toddlerhood -- did not cast himself in Mommy. Like most of his movies, Mommy features complicated mother-son dynamics, arresting visual sequences and a potent soundtrack. In just five years, the filmmaker has created a distinctly unique body of work, all the more remarkable considering his relative youth.
Recently I sat down with a few other journalists for a conversation with Dolan, who was both introspective and forthright. The following are excerpts.
Do you feel different now that you’ve received all this acclaim? [...]
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9 years ago
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Over the course of the past few years, vinyl has made something of a comeback. Spurred on by nostalgia and hipster culture, records sales are once again on the rise and the average person has a turntable. This renaissance has changed not only the popularity of vinyl, but has also changed the access to records. You can find them everywhere from Amazon to Urban Outfitters. Younger artists, who may have missed the vinyl boat all together, are releasing new music in this older format. To meet the demand, several services have surfaced to supply music fans with the newest pressings. Here are a few options to help you expand your record collection and/or just explore new music:
Vnyl is a record subscription service that has gotten a lot of press lately, both good and bad. Using Vnyl, subscribers can determine the contents of their delivery by indicating which “#vibes” they would like to go with. The hashtags to choose from range from #betweenthesheets to #cooking to #work to #danceparty and more. Once the records have been put togethers, they’re mailed to the user, much like in Netflix's old DVD-in-a-paper-sleeve model. From there Vnyl allows subscribers to hold on to records they love and return the ones they don’t. Subscribers can also track the journey of each record, from one Vnyl user to the next. Each person can comment on their experience and inform whomever gets the album next.
Vinyl Me, Please funtions in a similar way. Much like a book of the month club or the free [...]
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9 years ago
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“Science, Fiction” is the latest show of video artist Diana Thater on view at David Zwirner's 533 West 19th street space. Thater who is one of the most influential artists working in film, video and installation today, has transformed the Zwirner gallery into a multimedia experience. Drawing on Thater's larger body of work which explores the interplay between mediated experiences and the natural world, “Science, Fiction” offers a fresh take on this subject matter.
Thater who is no stranger to the art world, earned her BFA in Art History from New York University. She would go onto pursue an M.F.A at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. This is her eighth solo exhibition at Zwirner and her work as also been shown internationally. In the fall of 2015, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be hosting a mid career survey of Thater's work.
The show consists of two video pieces and an installation which take over the second half of the Zwirner gallery space. As you enter the space, The Starry Messenger and Sidereus Nuncius are shown on two large flat screen video pieces facing one another against opposite walls and give way to Thater's installation in the larger gallery space. The video work as well as the installation explore tension between the natural and constructed world.
Thater's installation conjures up elements of sculptor Dan Flavin's work through her use of light boxes in various colors ranging from blue to green in the installation. The[...]
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9 years ago
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Hailing from the westside of Los Angeles, painter Buddy Miano, 30, would like to say she is totally fashionable and cutting edge, “but I dont have the ego or money for that.” Ms. Miano tries to wear what she feels comfortable in and what is appropriate for the activities she will be doing that day. “Being from L.A., weather hasn’t really been much of a factor, she says. “I usually get away with black leggings or dark denim with a mix of patterns.”
For Buddy, the more it doesn’t go together the more likely she is going to wear it. And just like her vibrant paintings, filled with clashing, maddening colors, Buddy’s wardrobe also consists of crazy hues and patterns. “My family often says I look like I got dressed in the dark, she says.
I caught up with Buddy to watch the sunset at Dockweiler Beach in west L.A. Our chat centered on her new life in the San Francisco-bay area, and her sudden need for socks on account of the Bay's cooler climes. “That’s new for me!” Discover more about Buddy’s favorite personal fashion possessions after the jump. Then check out where you can see her works here: buddymiano.blogspot.com
Jacqueline Colette Prosper, @yummicoco
Coat
I like this coat because I got it for ten dollars and it’s very luxurious. It’s wool, and it has this fancy velvet collar that makes me feel like a classy lady. When I saw the coat, I said, hey, look at this fancy thing, and then I bought it. I found it at the Goodwill in Berkeley, off of [...]
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9 years ago
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Yes, we’re almost two weeks into 2015, so please forgive the lateness of this list—we’re just now recovering from a great New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day spent with the Bunker and 718 Sessions crews. But it’s never too late to support the home team, right? In the underground-clubbing realm, the fact that there’s been so much great music created by Gotham artists and/or released on local labels over the past twelve months is another sign of the scene’s strength—and really, we would could have made this a Forty Fave NYC Tracks list without breaking a sweat. But, for now, let’s go with the five below—click on the images to hear the tracks. Enjoy!
Siren
“Gauntlet”
Compost
There’s a windswept feel to “Gauntlet, ”the long-awaited first fruits of a studio partnership between Metro Area’s Darshan Jesrani and the Disques Sinthomme label’s Dennis Kane. It might be the majestic guitar chords, or the wailing vocals (from Apollo Heights’ Daniel Chavis), or the cut’s spacious arrangement and willingness to take its time to get wherever it’s going. Whatever it is, the song is something of an overlooked modern classic. And holy crap, does that pumping bassline hit the spot! There’s a fine remix from London groove machine Ray Mang that tightens up the song’s feel a bit—he basically houses it up, toughening up the rhythm and accentuating the acid bleep, giving it an added sense of urgency. But for our money, the sprawling original does the trick just fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?[...]
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9 years ago
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For some of us, historical dramas – when done well – are endlessly fascinating, both educational and escapist. Part of the allure is the seductive aspect of losing oneself in another time (and often, place), complete with noble sentiments, picturesque settings and lush period costumes that were undoubtedly uncomfortable as hell but look fabulous on screen. Bringing history and historical figures to life is no easy feat – how to create a compelling and (yes) entertaining film without completely distorting the facts? Throw in a passionate romance and it can all easily become overblown.
Prolific German film and television director Dominik Graf has done a very good job with Beloved Sisters (Die geliebten Schwestern), which uses both fact and liberal conjecture to tell the story of celebrated German poet/playwright/philosopher Friedrich Schiller (Florian Stetter) and his relationship with the film’s titular siblings, Caroline von Beulwitz (Hannah Herszsprung) and Charlotte von Lengefeld (Henriette Confurius). Along with the evolution of the trio’s complicated ménage a trois, the film depicts an era when poets like Schiller (and his pal Goethe) were the equivalent of critically-acclaimed, convention-flouting rock stars; at a time when flouting convention was truly scandalous. From the moment the penniless Schiller meets shy, intelligent Charlotte and, a bit later, outgoing, equally astute Caroline, he is smitten – as are they – both physically and intellectually. The aristoc[...]
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9 years ago
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Singer-songwriter Nick Santino has blossomed into quite the solo artist since leaving A Rocket to the Moon in 2013. Where his former band had only hints of the midwest and barely a twinge of country to it, his newest EP is decidedly country. It bears more resemblance to Santino’s short lived sort-of-solo act Nick Santino & The Northern Wind. Under that moniker, Santino released Going Home EP and The Ones You Meet Along the Way: A Collection of Stories from the Road EP in 2013. The records are more electric than his newest EP, but they provide a good transition between his career as a frontman to his career as a solo musician.
Compared to his past alt rock efforts, Savannah is completely stripped back, populated by little more than Santino’s slow strum. The EP is built almost entirely by acoustic guitar and gentle piano, a backdrop which fits Santino’s voice perfectly. Savannah sounds like Santino has cemented himself in whatever sub-genre of country he’s cornering. It isn’t anything like what Brad Paisley or Luke Bryan play, but rather something resembling an acoustic session. The slide guitar and various other instruments of Santino’s 2014 release Big Skies are nowhere to be found. Instead these six quick tracks, which follow up Live in Sao Paulo, a split EP he recorded with The Maine, make a science out simplicity.
The opening track “Rio” is a bright point. The storyline is sweet. Santino paints a picture of eating breakfast in bed and running away to Mexico t[...]
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