EXHIBITION: "The Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection" at Tate Modern/London

 A young Sir Elton (c. 1970)

We all know Elton John through his prolific music, not to mention
his flamboyant costumery and abundant collection of zany eyeglasses. But not 
too many people are aware that he is considered to be one of the most important
collectors of Modernist photography on the planet. 

Below: a rare print of Man Ray’s Glass Tears (1930), from Sir Elton's collection.
Glass Tears is the picture that "changed everything" for him.
“It was a huge leap,” he said about acquiring it. 
“It was like a Cape Canaveral leap.” 

The tears in this photo are strategically placed, and clearly don't look real.
There is some dispute as to whether the model is a living person or a mannequin.
 

Nearly 200 twentieth century photographs from Sir Elton's collection are currently 
on display at the Tate Modern in London. The exhibition will run through
through May 7, 2017, and includes works by such notables as
Edward Weston, Man Ray, Dorothea Lange, Irving Penn, 
 Imogen Cunningham, André Kertész  and Ilse Bing.

Underwater Swimmer, Esztergom, Hungary (1917) 

by André Kertész 

Kertész's fascination with capturing a singular moment in time,
and playing with unusual natural lighting are evident in this photo.

°     °     °     °     °     °     °

Migrant Mother (1936) by Dorothea Lange

About this photograph, Sir Elton said, “It’s a bit like Mona Lisa, I think -- 
her face. The sorrow, the anxiety. This is like, ‘Am I going to be able to feed 
my child the next day?’ ... I love the fact that the photograph is so beautiful 
and yet the situation is so awful."

“It’s incredible not just that he [Elton] has a print of such and such, but he has the print.”

                                                                                                                           NY Times

Some of my favorites from the collection:

        Salvador Dali, New York (1947) by Irving Penn 

Nusch Eluard (1928), by Man Ray 
 Gelatin silver print on paper

 Nude by Edward Weston, c. 1930

Leaping Into the Weekend

Dancer, Willem van Loon, Paris (1932) by Ilse Bing

To watch a video of Elton John talking about his collection,     

link here. 

~oOo~ 

EXHIBITION: "WOMEN: New Portraits: by Annie Leibowitz now in NYC

“The imagery of women has to catch up with the imagery of men,” Annie Leibovitz told 

the NY Times regarding WOMEN: New Portraits, her 2016 traveling photography exhibit. 

The images continue her 1999 project, Women, a book she published 

with her late partner Susan Sontag 

 

“Women are a work in progress,” she said. “To my dying day, 

I’ll be doing these photographs.”

Misty Copeland, dancer, NYC, 2015

© Annie Leibovitz  

Gloria Steinem, writer and activist, NYC, 2015 © Annie Leibovitz 

from WOMEN: New Portraits

There couldn't be a better time to celebrate the

spirits and accomplishments of women than right now, when the
forces of misogyny seem to have been unleashed all over the world.
WOMEN: New Portraits opens today November 18, at the 
Bayview Correctional Facility, a former women's prison in Manhattan 
that was closed after Hurricane Sandy. 

 The show's opening launches the Art Deco building’s restoration and 
transformation into a Women’s Building, which will reopen as a center for 
women’s groups and services in 2020.

The show has already been exhibited in
London, Tokyo, San Francisco, Mexico City and Milan.
It will head to Zurich after New York, rounding out a year-long world tour.

For her new photography exhibit  Annie Leibovitz shot portraits of 

female luminaries at work: Malala Yousafzai, Serena and Venus Williams, 

Gloria Steinem, Elizabeth Warren, Shonda Rhimes on set, Jane Goodall, 

Misty Copeland on pointe, Adele at her piano, 

Katie Ledecky in the pool, and Lena Dunham, among many others.

"Why do a project on women? There have not been representations of women that show them as whole human beings. So this is remedial. Each of these photographs, each one is a novel."

Gloria Steinem

WOMEN: New Portraits will be on view in New York from November 18 through December 11. For the November 18 opening, formerly incarcerated women will lead a discussion 
about female imprisonment and women’s rights. Speak-outs and "talking circles" have been an integral part of the exhibition since its outset.

~oOo~

DESTINATIONS: GLASGOW: City of Design, Innovation and prize-winning Architecture

2016 has been designated as Glasgow's

Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design; during this time the city 
has been celebrating the best of Scotland's architecture, 
both old and new. Formerly a grimy industrial city that tourists
tried to avoid, Glasgow has reinvented itself through design and 
and the enthusiastic embrace of its glorious architectural history. 

"The Mac": 
 Renovations and reconstruction continue at the renowned Glasgow School of Art,
which was severely damaged in a May 2014 fire. The building was designed in the early 1900s by iconic Scottish architect 
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 
who essentially brought Modernism to the UK more than 100 years ago, with his streamlined style and unique design vocabulary,

Left: close-up of school's exterior 

 Below: the school's singular library

 

 

"The school has responded to the effect of the

fire in a manner that seeks to

harness the creative energy of

the institution itself."

                                                                                        VisitScotland.org

On the other end of the spectrum,

the Saunders Centre at Glasgow Academy --  a sleek, state of the art science and technology block that was constructed for a private school in Glasgow -- 
was recently awarded the Andrew Doolan "Best Building in Scotland" prize 
for 2016 from a shortlist of 11 projects.

 Exterior of new Glasgow Academy Building

Above and below: Interior views of the Saunders Centre 

Above: Diagrams of ventilation systems and lighting

 

178-seat auditorium

"The Glasgow Academy Saunders Building is about science in the city, science embedded into the early years of young people's thinking, science celebrated not out the way 

but right in the middle of our community, science as open, not closed and secret."

statement by prizewinners Paige\Park architects

  The festival, which began in October 2016 and runs through

Feb. 2017, comprises talks, walking tours, photography and art exhibits,
music, light projections, sustainable design lectures, films, conversations 
with architects and much more. A programme for the entire list of events

is available here.

Room De Luxe at Willow Tea Rooms,
  Sauchiehall street



"... the rich collections of art in the city museums, the concentration of small 
shops and vintage treasure troves, and unexpected leafy enclaves 
are only a few of Glasgow’s charms. Ultimately it’s the openhearted, 
hospitable and occasionally irreverent people who live here 
that create such a welcoming city. "

N.Y. Times, August 2014         

~oOo~

BOOKS: Thoroughly modern Emily: The Belle of Amherst

Quarto Publishing has just released a delightfully accessible yet quite 

sophisticated book about Emily Dickinson, her world and her poetry.

Edited by scholar Susan Snively (whose hometown happens to be Amherst, MA, 
just like Emily) and charmingly illustrated by Paris-born artist Christine Davenier, 
the book brings Emily's poetry firmly into the present tense.
It's the premiere of Quarto's new "poetry for kids" series, 
but its appeal is to all generations.

 

It may come as a surprise to learn that Emily Dickinson is considered by many 

devoted readers and scholars to be a Modernist poet. Her spare aesthetic -- with air breathed into the rhythm of her words through the frequent use of long dashes -- relaxed the rules of Romanticism and a broadened its themes, style and subject matter. 

Poet Michael Burch wrote that Dickinson "loosened the corsets" of English poetry, 

leading the way for iconic poets like Walt Whitman, 

e.e. cummings and even Allen Ginsburg.

Photo c. 1847, Emily Dickinson at age 17

Though an introvert by nature, Emily was not nearly the recluse or misfit 
she is often portrayed as. There was also humor and wit in her poetry.

Snively writes in her introduction:
"The poet's life was both quiet and busy. She visited Washington, D.C, 
and also journeyed to Philadelphia, Hartford, Worcester, Springfield,
Boston and Cambridge. Yet Emily Dickinson felt most comfortable at home.
'Home is a holy thing', she remarked. She baked bread for the household, worked in the huge garden, wrote possibly 10,000 letters -- think of what she might have done
with email! -- and created poems that were unlike anybody else's,
full of word-play, startling images, puzzles and surprises."




 Above: Illustration for This is My Letter to the World,
one of my favorite Emily poems
 

This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,--
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty. 

Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me! 


 
 Above: illustrations for Exhilaration is the breeze and
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee


Thirty-five poems are included in the volume, organized in sections by season.
The text includes an engaging foreword and definitions of important words;
I have to admit that some such as plashless (smoothly, without splashing), 
lathed (covered), duties (clothing) and
repealless (endless) were head-scratchers for me.
 
 There's also a commentary section called "What Emily Was Thinking", in
which each poem is interpreted briefly, and with great wisdom. One I
especially liked was for the poem
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee:
"The poet liked to bake sweet treats, Here is her recipe
for a meadow, The secret ingredient is a daydream."

 To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee
One clover and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.

"To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations."

E. Dickinson, in a letter written in1871

~oOo~

ODD BITS: "Sophisticated, provocative and poetic": Deep amethyst wins out as Benjamin Moore's 2017 color of the year

Here in the corporate suites of Mad for Mod, we are

always on the lookout for the most au courant color trends in interior and 

fashion design (especially when our main office needs a new paint job.)

 On line for a big rollout in 2017 is

Shadow,

Benjamin Moore's recently selected Color of the Year. 

Below:
Shadow is seen here in a grand entryway, demonstrating that entrances 
don't always have to be light and airy. Sometimes a dramatic hue is 
the most effective way to give a sophisticated tone to one's home. 

 

“Elusive and enigmatic, Shadow is a master of ambiance. It is a color that calls to mind a past, yet it can also make a contemporary, color-confident statement,” 
Ellen O’Neill, Benjamin Moore’s creative director, asserts.

The hue is part of a bolder “Color Trends” palette that Benjamin Moore says 

reflects consumers’ newfound level of confidence in using 

deeper, saturated colors. The "confident palette" includes colors with 

names like Jade Dragon, Hot and Spicy, Midnight Show and Lemon Burst.

Bathrooms can be a great place to experiment with dark colors,

as long as there is ample interior lighting.

“Dark colors visually advance a space and sometimes, can make it feel cozier,” 

says design consultant Sam Jerrigan. “It’s sort of like a snuggling-up-

with-an-afghan-on-a-sofa feeling. This deeply saturated shade holds a 

bit of mystery, suggesting a room with a past but at the 

same time a contemporary statement."

A note on amethyst:

Purple amethyst has been highly esteemed throughout the ages for its striking  beauty 

and purported powers to soothe the mind and emotions. In ancient times, 

used in decorative arts by both the Hebrews and the Egyptians, 

it was called  a “Gem of Fire,” and was considered a precious stone, 

worth as much as a diamond. Today, it is considered to be a stone of 

spirituality, healing, and contentment.

~oOo~