BEAUTY: Interiors--Jeff Andrews

I've said it before, I'll say it again: white rooms are a missed opportunity for color. Unless it is a "statement" room that depends upon an all-white scheme to support some extreme modernist vision, white to me (in an interior design context) usually means "devoid."

But the primarily white work of NYC interior designer Kelly Behun seems full of texture and interest, filling the color-less spaces with reasons to look and linger...

I think it is a combination of furniture juxtaposition and choice of surprising elements like a lighted branch or a live-edge redwood cocktail table.


http://kellybehun.com/

BEAUTY: Interior--James Huniford

This Manhattan home by interior designer James Huniford is remarkably restrained and understated; there's nothing splashy or sensational about these spaces. Despite this, and despite a neutral, monochrome color palette, it still manages to captivate. He achieves this through form, shape, texture, and juxtaposition, using organic materials in a very sleek, modern, somewhat un-organic way. The interest comes from the tension between all of these elements; achieving this level of interest requires attention and understanding. In this way, the design of this home is extremely cerebral and sophisticated...

http://www.huniford.com/index.html

BEAUTY: Interiors--Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz

BNOdesign, the design firm helmed by principal designer Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, creates unexpected interiors that are deceptively simple, combining traditional and modern in a very understated but special and impactful way. Click on the photos to see the details...


http://www.bnodesign.com/

In Memoriam: Jamey Rodemeyer

Sadly, anti-gay bullies have claimed yet another young man for their very long and ever-growing list of victims: on September 19, 2011, Jamey Rodemeyer, 14, killed himself because of bullying. The heartbreaking Buffalo News article about Jamey, his torment, and his suicide is here.


For Jamey, it is too late. To those still alive, I address the following:

"Dear gay teen contemplating suicide:

You are not wrong. You are not “bad.” You are not sick, defective, or evil.
You are perfect and beautiful just the way you are.
You have done nothing wrong and you have done nothing to deserve being humiliated, punished, or hurt, either physically or emotionally.
Bullying and discrimination are never ever innocent: the bullies are the ones who are wrong, bad, and sick for hurting you.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you are any less of a human being than they are. Don’t let them tell you it is a choice or that being gay is about behavior; you are who you are. Embrace yourself and be proud of being alive.

You have value. You have as much right to be here on this planet as anyone else.
It may seem like the world is against you, but there are people for you out there, there are places for you out there. You will be happy, you will get to live YOUR life the way YOU want to, without having to pay any attention to the bullies or whatever “bible” nonsense some people might throw at you… you are not "impure," "immoral," "unnatural," or "against nature." Those are just ridiculous lies they tell to hide their hatred, fear and prejudice.

You will survive and thrive! You get to live here. That is your RIGHT.
You might turn out to be an important author, a famous designer, someone who invents a new type of metal, an inspiring performer… or you might end up working with kids who need to hear that they have value and are perfect the way they are.
Please stick around.
Please.
We need you.

Love,
JEF"

To help, please visit:
The Trevor Project
Dan Savage's "It Gets Better Project"
Please spread the word about this issue and these sites--you never know who might need to hear about them.

BEAUTY: Interior--Yabu Pushelberg

Design team (and life partners for 31 years!) George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have designed award-winning restaurants and retail spaces as well as private residences for clients across the continent, but perhaps their most spectacular creation is their own home. Located in a Richard Meier-designed tower on Perry Street in Manhattan, it is 4,000 square feet of organic minimalist sumptuousness. Their spaces are full--or empty, depending on which way you look at things--of strange, unexpected textures and shapes, many of them unfamiliar as furniture or furnishings. Even though the space has a lot of natural materials like wood and warm metals, it has the feeling of some sort of science fiction fantasy interior, as though we are seeing the living space of an alien race who have objects and rooms whose uses we cannot begin to fathom; just look at the biomorphic cast-bronze tripod chair with what appears to be moth wings. The art selection helps that along as well with things like the glass ball deer head by Japanese artist Kohei Nawa.
They even manage to make the thick cement pillars seem part of their grand scheme and vision.


http://www.yabupushelberg.com/

Savage Beauty

This past Tuesday, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City unveiled its newest exhibition, "Savage Beauty," a retrospective of the late Alexander McQueen. This seems like a wonderful tribute to McQueen and his utter brilliance. Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of fashion... but not just any fashion. I appreciate fashion that creates something, that says something, that is theater, that is conceptual art, that is creativity itself. And no other designer I can think of can come close to what Lee Alexander McQueen did, created, and achieved in his too-short lifetime. Sure, other designers created a look that might have changed the silhouette of the time. Other designers may have advanced fashion with a well-timed brainstorm or by being able to tap into the zeitgeist and present something that resonates with fashionistas. But no one else worked on the edge and pushed the envelope of what fashion is--and remained popular, relevant and most importantly, sellable--more than McQueen (Dame Westwood and the now-unmentionable and unfortunate Galliano come close).

It still pains me to think too deeply about McQueen and what his creativity and literally stunning artistry meant--and still means--to me. I do not feel I am overstating my case when I say that his suicide robbed us of one of the most breathtakingly innovative, fertile, and visionary imaginations in history. In terms of influence and importance, his output, I truly believe, is certainly right up there with Picasso or Michelangelo or Monet. His loss is a huge loss not just for the world of fashion, but for the concepts of imagination and creativity everywhere. In a world such as this one, we can hardly afford to lose people with such vision.

And the Met's exhibit "Savage Beauty" looks like it does a marvelous job in honoring and presenting McQueen's ferocious creativity; this retrospective culls McQueen quotes, insights from his long-time assistant and now head of the house Sarah Burton, and descriptions of McQueen's inspirations for his collections, along with a dazzling display of pieces from all of McQueen's collections seen in immersive, atmospheric galleries designed to feel entirely connected to the pieces in them. If it's possible, I appreciate even more now the probing curiosity, penetrating mind, and mad genius of McQueen.

I wish I could fly to New York to see this show, but alas, I am off to Italy. So if you can't get to the Met for the show (which closes July 31), do what I did and pore over the Met's website for "Savage Beauty" (link at bottom) which features pictures and descriptions of the galleries (seen below), photos of some of the key pieces on display, and lots and lots of riveting videos all narrated by the curator of the exhibit, Andrew Bolton. Watch the the video at the end of this post for a marvelous overview of the show, in which Bolton concisely observes that McQueen used "fashion as a vehicle to express very complex ideas and concepts."

Above: Views of the galleries rendered by Joseph Bennett

Above: A frock coat from McQueen's 1992 MA graduation collection at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design entitled Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims. The coat is of pink silk satin with a thorn print and white satin lining encapsulating human hair.

Above: A dress from the 2001 VOSS collection made of red and black ostrich feathers and actual glass medical slides painted red to resemble blood samples.

Above: McQueen often used natural and elemental materials in his creations and the dress of real oyster shells under the stunning embroidered overdress based on a nineteenth century Japanese silk screen, also from 2001's VOSS collection, is a fantastic example. McQueen also collaborated with jewelry designers and other artisans to add accessories to his collections; the necklace seen here is made by extraordinary jewelry designer Shaun Leane from Tahitian pearls and silver.

Above: Another example of McQueen's use of natural materials is this Romantic dress entirely of pheasant feathers from his '06-'07 collection The Widows of Culloden. (Read the "Savage Beauty" website for descriptions and explanations about the inspiration for this incredible collection.

Above: The iconic antler dress also from The Widows of Culloden collection.

Above: Created for double-amputee and Paralympics athlete Aimee Mullins (who also appeared in Matthew Barney's epic CREMASTER 3 film/ art installation), this ensemble featured a pair of legs for Aimee, seen here wearing them on the runway, carved from solid ash.

http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/

http://alexandermcqueen.com/