BEAUTY: Painting--Grant Haffner

The intriguing, colorful work of Grant Haffner is a bit disorienting. Lonely stretches of road are layered with unexpected psychedelic striations.

Visit his shop through his website where he sells prints of these magical landscapes!

https://www.granthaffner.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Michelle Auboiron

French artist Michelle Auboiron paints architectural marvels around the world but she also painted this series of lush images from the botanical gardens known as Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, a major greenhouse complex located at the southern edge of the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement in Paris. Some of these views remind me of the Palm House at Kew Gardens (previously here) and its twin, The Conservatory of Flowers here near me in Golden Gate Park.

https://www.auboiron.com/

Happy Pride Anniversary 2019--FIFTY YEARS!

Happy Pride Anniversary!

FIFTY years ago today (!), a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on yet another unnecessary, unfair, harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and while a few laws and minds have changed, we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight.

We celebrate Pride Month and recognize Pride Day because it is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces: gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay and trans men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes.

Because the LGBT Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

So today, we thank the brave men and women at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

BEAUTY: Drawing--Stefan Zsaitsits

I love the dream logic house drawings of artist Stefan Zsaitsits. They are composed of a visual language and symbols, just like dreams.

Top to bottom: House in the Fog; House in the Mountains; House Number Three; House of the Big Door; House on the Edge; House with Cloud; House with Corals and Starfish; House with Curtain; House with Ghost; House with Glass and Porcelain; House with Greenhouse; House with Iceberg; House with Larches; House with Tent; House without Windows

http://www.zsaitsits.com/

"Infinity Mirror [Ambient Outro]" by Man Without Country

A lovely dramatic swell of ambient/electronic feelings in "Infinity Mirror [Ambient Outro]" by Man Without Country (previously here) from the album "Infinity Mirror." Listen.

(WARNING: video contains strobe effects)

https://manwithout.country/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week

Here are some details I did not want to miss mentioning from the Spring Summer 2020 shows at Paris Fashion Week:

Off-White
Blankets with designs by old-school graffiti artist Futura (who worked alongside the likes of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat in New York back in the day). I love blankets as an alternative to scarves.

Lemaire
Wide-cut, high-waisted trousers with a 40s silhouette. Beautiful.

Lanvin
Adorable silk shirt and jacket with Babar imagery in this lovely seaside collection shown at an indoor pool.

JW Anderson
Fascinating flip-flop sandal with straps but also a decorative gold leash that reminds me of the type surfers wear to tether their board to their ankles...just without the crystal drops.
And a cute, home-y, felted clog in yummy colors.

ACNE Studios
What at first appears to be a chunky running or hiking shoe with a big lug sole turns out to be a sort of double wrap, peep-toe sandal! It looks great in distressed chartreuse leather worn with funky, slouched socks.

Christian Dada
Beautiful black or white chunky beaded necklaces from a collection based on Japanese pilgrimages to Buddhist temples and shrines.

https://www.off---white.com
https://www.lemaire.fr/
https://www.lanvin.com
https://www.jwanderson.com
https://www.acnestudios.com
http://www.christiandada.jp/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Loewe

Jonathan Anderson is a busy guy. He not only helms his own eponymous label J.W. Anderson (previously here), but he has been Creative Director at venerable Spanish leather goods brand Loewe for six years now, and he has continued to create beautiful, evocative collections for both houses. And for this Paris Fashion Week, he created a soft, flowing Spring Summer '20 collection for Loewe. Even though the house was founded in 1846 in Madrid by a group of Spanish leather craftsmen, and the brand proper originated in 1876 when Enrique Loewe Roessberg, a German craftsman, joined the group, Loewe's heyday seems to have been in the 1960s and 1970s. A certain hand-crafted interest in leather came out of hippie counterculture from that period, and hand tooled leather goods were seen everywhere. Anderson has re-energized that interest and cultivated a sense of artisan-made craft-based clothing and accessories. What we see for this collection is actually very close to the freedom and spiritual expansion that came from the 60s and 70s.

Anderson says the collection reflects "a childlike dream state" and I can sense that in the loose, pajama-like feel of some of the looks (like sleepy boys about to go to bed) as well as the djellabas and ultra-refined suede caftans. (The childlike state is delightfully reflected in the sweet pink leather iPhone case around one model's neck.) The Mediterranean stripes on the lovely knitwear pieces remind me of the beautiful colors and stripes I found on foutas on the Côte d'Azur. It all adds up to a relaxed, dreamy moment.

And of course since Loewe is a leather goods house in Spain, there are glorious Roman sandals, moccasins, espadrille boots (!LOVE!), and slip-on leather shoes.

https://www.loewe.com