art

Art meets horticulture with ikebana, the soothing art of Japanese flower arrangement

By Dorsey Rohweder 3 days ago
The rise of Modern Ikebana: the art of Japanese flower arrangement - Ho Hai Tran / Frida Kim
The rise of Modern Ikebana: the art of Japanese flower arrangement – Ho Hai Tran / Frida Kim

Back in February, Frida Kim, one of London’s most sought-after floral designers, was already fully booked until October with commissions for ­dinners, parties and private events across the city and beyond. By late March all of those jobs, like those of almost all of the country’s event florists, were cancelled.

Luckily, she also has several private clients, and was able to work alone, beautifying houses with her soulful displays that seem to sit somewhere between floristry and decorative art. “I am always checking for harmony and elegance,” says Kim, who often uses just one branch or stem rising up from an elegant bowl.

“Sometimes when I see one really beautiful single stem it can speak about our current situation – you can’t show off, you can’t go anywhere, there is all

… Read More

Man Ray Exhibition Shows How a Mascara Advertisement Became Surrealist Art

By Dorsey Rohweder 6 days ago

PARIS — Man Ray’s Surrealist experiments with photography not only revolutionized the medium, but also transformed the way that fashion was represented in magazines during the Twenties and Thirties, a new exhibition in Paris shows.

“Man Ray and Fashion,” which opened at the Musée du Luxembourg on Wednesday, takes the viewer on a journey from his early society portraits through to his daring work for Harper’s Bazaar, set against vintage film footage and original creations by the likes of Elsa Schiaparelli, Madeleine Vionnet and Chanel.

Curator and art historian Catherine Örmen says the aim of the exhibition is twofold: to illustrate a lesser-known aspect of Man Ray’s work, and to reflect the evolution of fashion over the course of two decades. When it was originally unveiled in Marseille last year, the photographs and clothes were shown in two separate venues.

The condensed show presented in Paris, which runs

… Read More

The Art of the Obama Era

By Dorsey Rohweder 2 weeks ago
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library

From ELLE

Michael Smith once picked a fight with Barack Obama. Smith, the First Family’s interior designer, argued that red curtains were the perfect choice for the Oval Office. Obama disagreed. Presidents, of late, had gone with yellow or blue. Smith dug in, and others chimed in. Was this about fabric, or something else?

“Barn red,” Smith called his curtains. Suddenly, they sounded pastoral—no echoes of Belle Watling or Buckingham Palace. Then, flanking the curtains, the designer added two sunny paintings of Cape Cod barns by Edward Hopper, a favorite of the president’s. They belonged on the walls, at the dawn of the Obama administration, because of their Americana calmness and playful shapes.

Smith often connects to people through places. For example, he is from Pasadena, and the president is from Honolulu. The two men are roughly the same age. The

… Read More

How Gen Z is using art and creativity to improve their mental health

By Dorsey Rohweder 3 weeks ago
Three ultra-talented young artists who contributed to the Yahoo Creators Contest share how art and creativity have positively impacted them during distressing times. (Art: Isabell Berkowitz)
Three ultra-talented young artists who contributed to the Yahoo Creators Contest share how art and creativity have positively impacted them during distressing times. (Art: Isabell Berkowitz)

To say that 2020 has been a tough year would be a grand understatement. In the last eight months alone, many have witnessed more death, pain and political pandemonium than ever before. The fear, isolation and demise caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the horrific onslaught of police brutality and racism that’s still so rife in the U.S. today, has rocked people to their core. And consequently, there’s been a significant rise in anxiety and depression — specifically in the younger generations.

In a recent survey conducted by VSCO, over 80 percent of Gen Zers polled said that they feel more anxious about the future now than they did prior to the pandemic. And that was before the brutal slayings of Breonna

… Read More